Before the final day of Rally Saudi Arabia, the last round of the 2025 World Rally Championship season, Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Szczepaniak hold second place in the WRC2 Challenger category.
The thrilling competition for glory in the Arabian WRC counter continued on Friday afternoon. The longest day of the rally was completed with repeat runs of the Alghulah (11.69 kms), Um Al Jerem (30.58 kms) and Wadi Almatwi (24.90 kms) stages.
Even in the morning, the surface conditions posed a significant challenge for the machines over majority of the distance. It was therefore not surprising that almost everyone ran into some minor or serious problems during the second runs, and the results changed dramatically.
Thanks to the teamwork of the ORLEN Rally Team, Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak set off for the afternoon loop with a fully working car. The Polish crew immediately showed that they know how to use its potential, setting the fastest time in the WRC2 Challenger on the first stage, adding precious seconds to their advantage over the manufacturer-backed rivals. They also achieved top results in the overall WRC2 category. However, their great streak ended during the next test. On a completely damaged road, they suffered a puncture and had to change a wheel. Loss of over two minutes pushed them back into second place – a position Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak held after Friday’s final stage.
It was a successful day, despite a flat tyre which we had to change on the special stage. We were too far from the stage finish; it was a rear puncture, basically a slow puncture – I don’t know where the tyre pressure started to drop. I felt it around ten kilometres into the stage and this test was 30 kilometres long, so there was a high risk of not finishing it if we continued. So we decided to change the wheel and in the process we had some minor issues with the jack. That’s how rallies are, especially this one. This is a part of the game. However, the pace was, to put it colloquially, quite “cool”. We were leading the fight with the factory crews, which I think is especially pleasing. At least one of them is still behind us, but our chances of victory have diminished; we have lost a lot of time. We are currently second in the WRC2 Challenger category. It was beautiful but it’s still good. We are enjoying the driving. The conditions are incredibly difficult here, but we love what we do. And as long as this passion remains in me, I will do it as best as I can
– Kajetan Kajetanowicz, triple European Rally Champion, summed up the day.
Almost 66 kilometres remain in the schedule for the last day of Rally Saudi Arabia and the whole 2025 World Rally Championship. The first of three final special stages will start at 8:05 CET.
Starts of Kajetan Kajetanowicz are supported by the title partner of the ORLEN Rally Team – ORLEN S.A., as well as technical partner Delphi and ORLEN OIL.
Rally Saudi Arabia 2025-unofficial WRC2 Challenger classification after SS14:
- Gryazin/Aleksandrov (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) 2:52:40.3
- Kajetanowicz/Szczepaniak (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +2:09.5
- Virves/Viilo (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +2:47.5
- Domínguez/Peñate (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +11:01.2
- Al-Kuwari/Bernacchini (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +14:37.8
- Granados/Martí (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +16:00.4
- Chwist/Heller (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +22:00.5
- Bakhashab/Moore (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +24:06.4
- Mauro/Pérez (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +28:57.3
- Solans/Sanjuan (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +29:41.2
