- All stages in top three – consistent
pace of LOTOS Rally Team crew during the opening loop of Sunday’s leg of
sixth round of the 2016 FIA ERC;
- Third place after 13
special stages run so far – Kajetanowicz and Baran hold podium position
in overall standings of Rally Estonia;
- Precious seconds in hand – the Polish duo increased their advantage over following crew to 17.4 seconds;
- Three special stages to go – 41.13 competitive kilometres separate the best European rally crews from Rally Estonia finish.
The
opening loop of Leg 2 of Rally Estonia, consisting of three special
stages, turned out to be the fastest in this year’s event. Of course
high pace was presented also by Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Jarek Baran.
This enabled the LOTOS Rally Team crew to retain their podium position
in overall standings in round 6 of the FIA ERC.
On the opening
stage of Sunday’s battle – Ristimae, the longest test today (19.96 kms) –
and on Vissi test (13.32 kms) the reigning European Rally Champions
recorded third fastest times. The latter stage was the fastest so far in
this year’s Rally Estonia: Kajetanowicz and Baran recorded average
speed of 131.38 kph. Before service break in Otepaa Kajto and Jarek
raised their pace and on the final test in the loop, Saverna, notched up
second fastest time, just one second behind the stage winner. Given the
speeds reached on Estonian gravel, this time difference equals to
distance of just 36 metres.
The competition in Rally Estonia
enters its crucial phase on Sunday afternoon. The crews still have three
challenging stages to go before they reach the finish: Ristimae (19.96
kms), Vissi (13.32 kms) and Saverna (7.85 kms). The rally ends with
ceremonial finish at 16:00 CET on the main square in city of Tartu.
Kajetan Kajetanowicz: –
Today
I can enjoy my driving again and the stages help very much because they
are very exciting, including the new ones. They bring us a lot of
pleasure. There are some jumps, corners and crests – all of them taken
at maximum speeds. This is what we love about rallying, what makes us
miss these stages as soon as we finish them. Power steering failure
which happened yesterday punished me a bit and my left arm is not fully
operational but I forget about it when the starting machine counts down
the remaining seconds, when the light goes green. We recorded top three
times on every stage, we consolidated our podium position so we fulfil
our plans. The stages today are very hard compared to yesterday, so we
can really push pedal to the metal.Rally Estonia standings after SS13:1. Lukyanuk/Arnautov (Russia, Ford Fiesta R5) 1:24:33.1
2. Sirmacis/Kulss (Latvia, Skoda Fabia R5) +27.9 s
3. Kajetanowicz/Baran (Poland, Ford Fiesta R5) +1:43.1 s4. Aus/Koskinen (Estonia, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) +2:00.5 s
5. Jeets/Toom (Estonia, Skoda Fabia R5) +3:50.6 s
6. Kołtun/Pleskot (Poland, Ford Fiesta R5) +4:36.7 s
7. Habaj/Woś (Poland, Ford Fiesta R5) +7:49.5 s
8. Niinemae/Valter (Estonia, Peugeot 208 R2) +9:00.4 s
9. Michajłow/Kokins (Russia, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X) +9:34.6 s
10. Griebel/Winklhofer (Germany, Opel Adam R2) +9:43.6 s
Starts
of Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Jarek Baran are supported by strategic
partner of LOTOS Rally Team – LOTOS Group – as well as CUBE.ITG and
Driving Experience. More info about Kajetan Kajetanowicz and the team
available at: www.lotosrallyteam.pl, www.kajto.pl,
www.facebook.com/EmocjeDoPelna, www.facebook.com/KajetanKajetanowicz and
www.twitter.com/Kajto_pl