Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Szczepaniak finished Friday’s leg of Central European Rally in fourth position in their category. The Polish crew returned to competition on tarmac after eleven months’ break, having to build their confidence and improve performance at high pace. Their opponents raised the bar – however, the ORLEN Rally Team duo joined the fight for top positions, with good starting position ahead of the next days.
In the afternoon the crews repeated two special stages: Strašín, the longest test of the rally (26.69 kms) and Šumavské Hoštice (16,85 km). The ORLEN Team crew set fourth-fastest time in the WRC2 Challenger standings on the first one and improving by one position on the second stage. Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak finished the day in fourth place in their category, holding the same position in the WRC2 classification – eighteen seconds behind third-placed rivals.
– We have finished the Czech part of Central European Rally. I had more and more fun behind the steering wheel, even on those muddy special stages. It was so slippery in some places that I thought our halfshaft might be broken. These are the conditions during this rally: no snow, no ice, temperatures above zero – but it’s very slippery. I learned a lot about the car today, driving it after long break without competing on tarmac – with new set-up. I did not put our extra lights for the final stage, although I had them in the car. It made my life a bit more difficult. I am not so young anymore but my eyesight is very good and our stage time was OK. Our plan for tomorrow is very easy: to enjoy and keep up the good pace
– Kajetan Kajetanowicz, triple European Rally Champion, commented after Friday.
There are just over 123 competitive kilometres to cover during Saturday’s leg of penultimate round of the 2024 World Rally Championship. The crews will tackle three stages over two loops: SS9/12 Granit und Wald (20.05 kms, at 7:58 and 14:28 CET), SS10/13 Beyond Borders (24.33 kms, at 9:05 and 15:35 CET) and SS11/14 Schärdinger Innviertel (17.35 kms, at 10:34 and 17:04 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.
Central European Rally, unofficial results after SS8 (WRC2 Challenger):
- Gryazin/Aleksandrov (Citroën C3 Rally2) 1:08:33.3
- Mareš/Bucha (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +45.9
- Marczyk/Gospodarczyk (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +1:05.4
- Kajetanowicz/Szczepaniak (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +1:23.6
- McErlean/Fulton (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +1:38.9
- Griebel/Braun (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +1:44.2
- Kremer/Kremer (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +3:14.2
- Potty/Herman (Citroën C3 Rally2) +3:48.4
- Cvrček/Těšínský (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +4:31.8
- Creighton/Regan (Ford Fiesta Rally2) +4:54.6
