Rally Italia Sardegna marks the final round of the 2026 World Rally Championship season. Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Szczepaniak join the field of crews which face the challenge of the Italian event, having completed their final preparations ahead of the competition on gravel roads on the Mediterranean island.
The final round of the season, just as it was the case last year, was originally scheduled to take place in Saudi Arabia. However, due to the geopolitical situation in the Middle East, the WRC circus will not head to that region. The final chapter of this year’s championship battle will instead be written in Sardegna.
For Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak, participation in Rally Italia Sardegna marks a return to gravel stages following an eleven-month break. Their last event on loose surface was the aforementioned round in Saudi Arabia, held last November. The ORLEN Rally Team crew arrived in Sardegna on Sunday and, after short acclimatization to hot temperatures, reaching 30 degrees Celsius, started the final stage of their preparations.
A test session on local roads took place on Monday, using a stage in the eastern part of the island which combined various characteristics of the special stages the competitors will face during the event itself. This test featured a mix of very narrow yet fast sections and tighter ones, where the road surface deteriorates quickly. The team worked on proper suspension setup, considering also the forecast for changeable weather and evaluated the performance of available Hankook compounds on gravel stages, which are challenging for tyres.
Sardegna is always beautiful, even in early autumn. We have usually visited the island at a different time of year, but the stages are still great, very tough and demanding. Rally Italia Sardegna is one of the toughest gravel rounds of the World Rally Championship. I am returning to this surface after an eleven-month break. During testing, I got good feeling in the car right away and we checked various differentials, some different anti-roll bars and balance. I am pleased. Of course the plans were more ambitious and I wanted to test even more but I am still feeling positive. Tomorrow and the day after we have recce and proper competition kicks off on Thursday. I can’t wait
– said Kajetan Kajetanowicz, the 2023 WRC2 Challenger champion.
Kajetanowicz takes up the challenge of Rally Italia Sardegna for the eighth time. He has previously secured both victories and top-three finishes on the island, and his fans will certainly remember last year’s battle right until the end – when he missed out on the win by just over five seconds.
The competition in the World Rally Championship showdown gets underway on Thursday afternoon with the first of seventeen special stages. The total distance covers 307 competitive kilometres.
Starts of Kajetan Kajetanowicz are supported by title partner of the ORLEN Rally Team – ORLEN S.A., as well as technical partner Delphi and ORLEN OIL.
