Two stage wins in the WRC2 Challenger category and fight for survival on the third one – this is a short summary of the opening Friday’s leg at Safari Rally Kenya for Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Szczepaniak. The ORLEN Rally Team crew did a great job but on the longest Kedong stage loose sand got stuck in air filter, the Polish duo had to slow down and they lost precious seconds. After the first loop they held third position in their category, trailing the leaders by less than 16 seconds.
Friday’s leg consists of two runs of three special stages. During the first loop Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak won Loldia (19.27 kms) and Geothermal (13.12 kms) tests, extending their advantage over second-placed crew to over 30 seconds. Unfortunately, air filter got blocked on the third stage and Kajetanowicz had to slow down, losing plenty of time. After four special stages Ciamin/Roche (Hyundai i20 N Rally2) lead the WRC2 Challenger standings, followed by Domínguez/Peñate (Citroën C3 Rally2), 13.8 seconds behind. The ORLEN Rally Team crew lose 15.7 seconds to the leaders. The gaps are really narrow, considering the characteristics of Safari, so the Polish duo could move up the order anytime.
– We have completed the first loop of Safari Rally, encountering typical Kenyan conditions – with plenty of stones and sand. We won two stages in the WRC2 Challenger category but hit problems on the third test, the longest one. Due to sand in air filter we completely lost power at one point, then it improved – but only slightly. I tried to drive both without and with ALS but we lost plenty of time. We dropped from the lead to third position but the gaps are not big – considering that this is Safari. I still feel plenty of motivation but I have to be smart – without trying to make up the loss on one stage or one loop. For sure we will give everything, we will do our best. I’ll try to stay focused and continue with my plan, irrespective of what happened on the final stage – Kajetan Kajetanowicz, reigning WRC2 Challenger champion, commented after first Friday’s loop.
The crews return to the same set of stages in the afternoon – Loldia, Geothermal and Kedong tests, starting at 11:48, 13:06 and 13:59 CET.
Starts of Kajetan Kajetanowicz are supported by the title partner of the ORLEN Rally Team – ORLEN S.A., as well as technical partner Delphi, Pirelli, ORLEN OIL, ATC CARGO S.A. and SJS S.A.
Safari Rally Kenya 2024, unofficial results after SS1 (WRC2 Challenger):
- Ciamin/Roche (Hyundai i20 N Rally2) 45:39.7
- Domínguez/Peñate (Citroën C3 Rally2) +13.8
- Kajetanowicz/Szczepaniak (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +15.7
- Munster/Dumont (Hyundai i20 N Rally2) +31.5
- Patel/Khan (Škoda Fabia R5) +1:04.9
- Chwist/Heller (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +2:05.6
- Díaz-Aboitiz/Sanjuan (Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo) +5:15.0
- Vassilakis/Krawszik (Ford Fiesta Rally2) +5:47.4
- Tundo/Jessop (Ford Fiesta R5) +6:48.0
- Virani/Shah (Škoda Fabia R5) +15:04.5
