The first leg of Rally Italia Sardegna is completed. Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Szczepaniak – third-placed crew in the WRC2 Challenger standings – are performing very well on demanding stages of the Mediterranean island.
Friday’s schedule featured second runs of the morning stages, so the world’s top crews once again competed for precious seconds on Tula-Erula (18.77 kms), Su Filigosu-Lerno (17.83 kms) and Monti di Alà-Sa Conchedda-Lerno (23.23 kms) tests. Although the dust had settled down a bit, rising temperatures and increasingly damaged roads meant that the difficulty level was still extremely high in the 2026 World Rally Championship season finale.
Representing the ORLEN Rally Team, Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak maintained their solid performance during the second loop today. They completed all the stages at a consistent pace, avoiding any mistakes. In the provisional results after the first leg they hold third position in the WRC2 Challenger category. However, on the final stage they were slowed by dust behind a rival car, running just ahead of them and experiencing some difficulties. In such situations, stewards usually award a notional time to fairly compensate for the lost seconds. It is therefore possible that, later this evening, Kajto and Maciek will move up to second place in the WRC2 Challenger standings and fourth in the overall WRC2 classification.
Rally Italia Sardegna has always been – and remains, as it turns out – incredibly difficult and demanding. It is very slippery, with lots of rocks and heavy compressions. Our heads are sore from our helmets banging against the seat headrests. I don’t think any other rally has so many jumps, heavy landings and crests. I believe that’s what defines Sardegna. I am happy because we are in a good position – on the podium but we don’t yet know exactly in which place. This is because we drove through the dust behind a crew which had to change a wheel and we are waiting for a decision on how much of the lost time we will get back. Regardless, we kept a good balance between speed and steady approach to avoid mistakes – which is extremely difficult here, as even driving at 95% or 90% still brings a high risk of puncture or car damage. It was a long but successful day for us and for sure we will keep fighting tomorrow
– summed up Kajetan Kajetanowicz, the 2023 WRC2 Challenger champion.
Saturday will be the longest day of this year’s Rally Italia Sardegna, with almost 124 kilometers of special stages scheduled. The following tests will be run twice: Lerno-Sa Conchedda-Monti di Alà (24.14 kms), Coiluna-Loelle (24.83 kms) and Solorche (12.86 kms). The crews will return to competition at 8:01 CET.
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.
Rally Italia Sardegna 2026 – unofficial WRC2 Challenger standings after SS7:
- Korhonen/Viinikka Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 1:29:10,5
- Daprà/Guglielmetti Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 +1:47,7
- Kajetanowicz/Szczepaniak Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 +2:02,9
- Sarrazin/Roche Lancia Ypsilon HF +2:05,0
- Virves/Viilo Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 +2:52,7
- Zaldivar/Der Ohannesian Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 +3:05,9
- Fontana/Arnaboldi Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 +4:15,2
- Mauro/Salvat Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 +5:38,2
- Granados/Martí Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 +7:32,0
- Romagna/Lamonato Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 +8:24,2
