The ORLEN Rally Team have completed two testing sessions ahead of the second outing in the 2025 World Rally Championship. Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Szczepaniak compete in Rally Portugal this weekend, after completing three days of recce.
Rally Portugal, round five of this year’s World Rally Championship, is the second event for Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak in their campaign. According to the WRC2 Challenger regulations, each crew must choose seven rallies out of fourteen events in the whole championship.
Almost two months have passed since Safari Rally Kenya, which inaugurated the campaign of the ORLEN Rally Team, so Kajetanowicz completed two days of testing in order to prepare in the best possible way for another challenge. Back in April, he tested in Bieszczady mountains in Poland, and added another day of testing after coming to Portugal.
Last Sunday Kajetan and Maciek tested their Toyota on São Pedro special stage, designated by the organisers. They used the same stage already in December, driving their first kilometres in a GR Yaris Rally2 – when the decision about switching the car had not been taken yet. This time the purpose of the test was to fine-tune car setup ahead of the WRC round with record-breaking field. The characteristics of the stage reflected general conditions of the rally stages. The road was very narrow in some sections, with fast sequences on mixed surface of sand and stony gravel. Similar conditions await on famous Fafe stage, close to the test site.
– We have completed our preparations ahead of Rally Portugal. Every testing kilometre is precious, especially the ones we drove here, in Portugal. We worked on general car behaviour and traction. I am happy. Cool feeling from Safari Rally returned already during our test session in Poland, here it was also nice to drive. The organisers prepared a stage similar to roads which await us during the rally itself, so our setup should work well. Of course a lot depends on weather. It will be a record edition of Rally Portugal, in many aspects. We will fight with over 40 crews in the WRC2 Challenger category, covering plenty of kilometres – on special stages, with longer route than in previous years, even when we competed here, on road sections and during three days of recce. Lots of driving and little time to sleep ahead – but this is the World Rally Championship and you have to be ready!
– Kajetan Kajetanowicz, the 2023 WRC2 Challenger champion, said ahead of the rally.
Now it is time for recce, planned for no less than three days – as the rally route covers huge area of northern Portugal. It brings additional logistic challenge and requires adequate planning. Before the rally start on Thursday, Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak together with their team will switch hotels five times – and even this schedule will not save them from driving long distances every day.
The whole route of Rally Portugal consists of 24 special stages, with 345 competitive kilometres.
Starts of Kajetan Kajetanowicz are supported by the title partner of the ORLEN Rally Team – ORLEN S.A., as well as technical partner Delphi and ORLEN OIL.
