In a few hours’ time Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Szczepaniak start the competition in Rally Italia Sardegna. The ORLEN Rally Team crew have already completed the shakedown ahead of the 2026 World Rally Championship season finale.
Due to the political situation in the Middle East, the most important rally series in the world will not visit Saudi Arabia this year. Instead, the season showdown, held unusually early, takes place in Sardegna. Following a trend established a few years ago, the headquarters of the Italian championship counter changes every year. This time the event has moved from the seaside town of Olbia on the eastern coast to Alghero, the charming town in the western part of the island. The schedule features seventeen special stages, with total distance of almost 310 competitive kilometres.
Thursday’s programme got underway with the official shakedown. The Monte Baranta test (3.27 kms) was used, with its twisty section in an old bauxite mine, steep climb on a rocky road and fast downhill run towards the finish line. The crews faced additional challenge, due to dust hanging in the air after each car, which significantly reduced visibility.
Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak completed a single run of the shakedown. They checked their car for the last time and conserved their tyres – with total number of tyres for the whole rally strictly limited by the regulations. Those used during the shakedown must also be ready for the actual competition.
We are in Sardegna, having just completed the shakedown. Right now we are still fulfilling our media commitments but things will pick up the pace soon. We are about to start a spectacular special stage, a few dozen kilometers away from here. There are plenty of big jumps there. As for us, we will be sweeping the surface – this is the starting order set by the organisers. We cannot really expect a fast time today but the real competition gets underway on Friday, with those really tough special stages. Still, we want to focus on every single test, beginning with the very first one.
There is a cool atmosphere here and plenty of Polish flags. We spent quite a bit of time waiting before the shakedown started. It was very dusty and there were so many fans along the road, so safety was the most important things. This is definitely a very demanding WRC round. I have competed many times in Sardegna but I don not recall such a tough event here. There are many new sections but also plenty of repaired roads. The rocks are covered with a layer of loose gravel, so the surface only looks smooth. I am happy to be here. I have really missed driving on gravel. Eleven months away from this surface is definitely too long. Keep your fingers crossed for a good feeling and we will do our best to stick to our plan
– to drive as fast as possible with smiles on our faces – said Kajetan Kajetanowicz, triple European Rally Champion.
Rally Italia Sardegna start early in the afternoon. Today’s schedule features the Ittiri Arena Show – a short and spectacular but demanding superspecial stage, run as a head-to-head duel between two cars, competing at the same time.
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.
