Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Szczepaniak have completed the opening leg of Acropolis in very good style. The Polish crew successfully defended their lead, claimed on the morning loop, and head the WRC2 Challenger standings, holding also second position in the overall WRC2 classification.
Very long leg of legendary “Rally of Gods”, which in fact started yesterday, came to an end. Majority of the distance had to be completed on Friday: the task was to get from Loutraki to Lamia, main headquarters of the rally, with six special stages to complete along the way.
The conditions confirmed the reputation of the Greek round of the World Rally Championship – called, not without a reason, a “European Safari”. Demanding special stages, full of not only stones but rocks which could easily damage a tyre or suspension, thick dust and extreme heat, with temperatures reaching 40 degrees, took their toll on competitors during round seven of the season.
Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak knew perfectly where to attack. At the same time they picked up places where their car had to catch a moment of respite. They did an exceptionally good job on three stages in the morning, setting fastest times on two tests. Afterwards they were able to rely on their time advantage which allowed them to drive with more caution – but not slowly. Thanks to proper pace management on the second loop and top result on SS7, the ORLEN Rally Team duo successfully defended their lead in the WRC2 Challenger category – with over one minute in hand over second placed crew. The Polish duo hold also excellent second position in the WRC2 standings and tenth place in overall classification.
We have completed the Friday’s leg. Fourteen hours in a “sauna on four wheels” on tough special stages with heart rate exceeding 170 beats per minute – I think it’s something which will stay for long in my memory. For sure my body also feels it. I am happy that we are leading the WRC2 Challenger standings. It felt good, I enjoyed my driving although it’s not that easy in these conditions. This rally is very demanding for tyres and we knew it before – but only during the rally we found out to what extent this aggressive surface destroys them. Tyre thread overheats and virtually falls off, so tyre management will be crucial tomorrow and on Sunday, as we have certain allocation of tyres. The battle is very tight. Today we brought the car to service park in Lamia, setting off in the morning from Loutraki, yesterday we competed in Athens – so we are on a “sightseeing” tour. However, to be honest, I wouldn’t take my family for such holidays
– Kajetan Kajetanowicz commented after Friday’s leg.
Saturday’s schedule features six special stages and another dose of over 120 competitive kilometres – on two runs of Pavliani, one of Acropolis Rally iconic stages (24.48 kms), Karoutes (19.48 kms) and Inohori (17.66 kms). The crews will start the day very early: at 7:22 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 and ORLEN OIL.
Acropolis Rally Greece, unofficial WRC2 Challenger classification after SS7:
- Kajetanowicz/Szczepaniak (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) 1:28:49,2
- Prokop/Ernst (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +1:05,1
- Cachón/Rozada (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +1:52,9
- Sarrazin/Roche (Citroën C3 Rally2) +1:53,4
- B. Bulacia/Morales (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +2:25,3
- Joona/Vaaleri (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +3:15,8
- Virves/Viilo (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +3:22,5
- Linnamäe/Morgan (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +3:27,6
- Daprà/Guglielmetti (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +4:16,1
- Schwarz/Ettel (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +4:26,0
