ORLEN The 80th Rally of Poland started on Thursday evening at the Mikołajki Arena. Thus began the great race in the seventh round of the World Rally Championship. For the Polish crew, Kajetan and Maciej, this is the third WRC start this season.
The race in Masuria was opened by a short 2.5-kilometre super race, where the ORLEN Rally Team demonstrated a solid pace, giving them a place in the top five in the WRC2 Challenger category.
On Friday, Poles were the fastest among all Rally2 class cars on OS4 Olecko (13.2 km) and OS Wieliczki 2 (12.9 km). On the longest run of the second OS2 loop, the Stańczyki 2 (29.4 km) had second time in the WRC2 Challenger and WRC2. The good results gave them a promotion and allowed them to maintain a high, second place in the overall WRC2 classification, as well as in their WRC2 Challenger category.
“It was a good day. We had a fast pace in the special stages, we won two. I am very happy because I waited a long time to present myself in front of the Polish audience and to go here in Masuria again as quickly as before. It gives me great pleasure to see how many flags are spread out for special episodes — said Kajetan Kajetanowicz.
For Kajetanowicz, this is already the 10th official start in Rally Poland. He made his debut in 2006 behind the wheel of the Peugeot 206 XS. He won his first triumph in the Masurian special stages in 2010, driving the Subaru Impreza. A year later, he repeated the success, again standing on the top step of the podium.
The organizers of ORLEN 80th Rally Poland have prepared almost 304 km of races for the participants this season. On Thursday, the spectacular OS 1 Mikołajki Arena took place. On the second day, the crew of Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak overcame five of the seven scheduled special stages, two were canceled for safety reasons.
On Saturday (June 29), the crews will complete seven stages, three of which will be covered twice. This will be the longest stage of the rally at 124.1 km.
On Sunday (30 June), after four special stages, the competition in ORLEN's 80th Rally of Poland will end. We should know the unofficial winners of the rally around 15.00.
