The 82nd Rally Poland gets underway this Friday. The ORLEN Rally Team crew of Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Szczepaniak join the field at the start of this blue-riband national event, having completed their preparations for the competition on the roads of the Silesian region.
The ORLEN Rally Team duo face their long-awaited appearance in front of their home crowd. In Rally Poland, a round of the FIA European Rally Championship and the national championship, this successful crew compete aboard a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, prepared and serviced by the Spanish team RaceSeven. This is the second start of Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak this year. They kicked off their season – a different campaign from previous years – in April, during Rally Croatia, one of the World Rally Championship rounds.
Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak completed their pre-event test on Tuesday, concluding a several-week preparation programme ahead of the most important event in Polish motorsport. A stage near Ustroń, Kajto’s hometown, was used to work on proper set-up of the Toyota for the Silesian stages. The ORLEN Rally Team focused on the suspension of their GR Yaris Rally2, also testing how set-up changes affect the performance of the car and different tyre compounds.
Kajetanowicz – the only driver in history to win the European Rally Championship title three times in a row (2015-2017) – has ten starts in Rally Poland under his belt. Moreover, in one edition he drove a course car, commonly known as a “zero car”. The Polish driver has won the Polish classic three times, each time on gravel stages. This year’s event will also be a kind of sentimental journey for the 2023 WRC2 Challenger champion. Kajetanowicz will have the opportunity to compete on the stages where he began his successful career and honed his skills. In 2003, Kajto, then unknown to the general public, made his Polish Rally Championship debut, winning his class at the International Silesian Rally in a small Peugeot 106 S16.
The rally week has started and I could not wait for it. We had a testing session near my home and the atmosphere was great. We worked on our car. Of course I would like to cover even more kilometres, there is always something more to have. However, I hope that soon we will have a proper competition, the feeling will be right and the smiles on our faces will not disappear, because a great motorsport celebration awaits us – the 82nd Rally Poland. The entire ORLEN Rally Team is ready. Now we need to focus on the recce. It is important to mark every detail of each stage. Even though we are on my home turf, I have not competed here for a long time. These roads change a bit, they are very tricky and the fact that the stages are familiar to almost everyone, including the top European drivers, makes this rally very “racy.” I’m looking forward to the driving but also to meeting the fans. I invite you all to the ORLEN Rally Team zone in the service park. You will see the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 there, just like the one we are currently driving, and the historic Peugeot 106 – the very one I drove in my Polish Rally Championship debut on the Silesian stages. There will certainly be plenty of excitement and attractions. Come to Rally Poland and, of course, keep your fingers crossed
– said Kajetan Kajetanowicz, the ORLEN Rally Team driver.
Rally Poland is the second oldest event of its kind in the world – after the famous Rallye Monte Carlo. Over more than one hundred years of its history, most editions had an international profile, most often forming part of the European Rally Championship. A round of the World Rally Championship has been hosted in Poland seven times. This year, another chapter will be written – after two decades of competition on gravel routes of the Masurian region, the rally moves to the tarmac roads of Silesia. The organisers have prepared fifteen special stages, totalling nearly 190 kilometres. The crews will complete the opening competitive kilometres on Friday – first during the Qualifying Stage and then during the evening GZM Katowice powered by ORLEN OIL super special stage, set in the heart of the city. The competition will continue until Sunday.
Starts of Kajetan Kajetanowicz are supported by title partner of the ORLEN Rally Team – ORLEN S.A., as well as by technical partner Delphi and ORLEN OIL.
