The first Friday loop of Croatia Rally is done and dusted. Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Szczepaniak completed all four special stages, increasing their pace step by step on tarmac roads of the Istrian Peninsula.
Round four of the 2026 World Rally Championship season started on Friday morning. A solid haul of over 60 kilometres awaited the crews, competing on the Istrian Peninsula.
As expected, the route of the first fully asphalt round of the 2026 season set a high level of difficulty. Technical stages, with very fast sections and, above all, with plenty of deep cuts – therefore, increasingly dirty – posed a huge challenge for the entire field in Croatia Rally. Many top crews faced problems, including the ORLEN Rally Team duo. Their remote starting position, as per regulations, forced them to drive on polluted surface, increasing the risk of a puncture. Damaged tyre on the opening stage slowed them down. On the following three tests, completed without further incidents, Kajto and Maciek raised the pace, recording fourth-fastest result in the WRC2 Challenger standings on the final stage. They hold seventh position in the overall standings after the first loop.
We have completed the opening loop of Croatia Rally. We knew it would be difficult and it is even more difficult than we had thought. Our starting position does not help, we are running further down the order in the WRC2, so the road is very damaged. I hav not competed in conditions like this for a long time. The rally seems to be more gravel than asphalt, which means the grip is low and the risk of a puncture gets higher. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened to us on the opening special stage. Therefore we were not able use the full potential of our tyre choice on the following tests. We took two hard tyres and the plan was to run at least one more stage on soft compound. For sure we will not give up; we drove quite well on the last stage of the loop and we are also improving the setup of our car. It is fine and we are looking positively into the future
– commented Kajetan Kajetanowicz, the 2023 WRC2 Challenger champion.
The schedule for the afternoon includes second runs of the same stages, already completed in the morning. The crews will tackle the following tests: Vodice-Brest (14.12 kms), Lake Butoniga -Motovun (13.78 kms), Beram-Cerovlje (23.78 kms) and Učka (11.75 kms).
Starts of Kajetan Kajetanowicz are supported by title partner of the ORLEN Rally Team – ORLEN S.A., as well as by technical partner Delphi, ORLEN OIL and Hankook.
Croatia Rally 2026 – unofficial WRC2 Challenger classification after SS4:
- Gryazin/Aleksandrov (Lancia Ypsilon Rally2) 37:49.9
- Jürgenson/Oja (Ford Fiesta Rally2) + 1.5
- L.Rossel/Mercoiret (Citroën C3 Rally2) +6.2
- Cachón/Rozada (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +11.2
- Korhonen/Viinikka (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +24
- Pelamourgues/Pouget (Hyundai i20 N Rally2) +37.8
- Kajetanowicz/Szczepaniak (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +1:12.7
- Prodan/Stiperski (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +1:44.6
- Daprà/Guglielmetti (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +1:52.2
- Gill/Brkic (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +2:40.7
