One hundred points, 2 podium finishes, 13 special stage wins and 41 top three times and excellent pace in all eight outings: this is the summary of first, successful season of Kajetan Kajetanowicz in FIA European Rally Championship.

For many drivers who begin their adventure with European Championship the aim for the first season is to learn and gather experience necessary to fight for top positions in this demanding series. This year it was the case with Kajetanowicz, but four-time Polish Rally Champion have quickly adapted to new conditions and hit the ground running, winning the first stages in this year’s championship. Kajetanowicz and Baran, driving for LOTOS Rally Team, were in contention for podium place in overall standings right until the last round of 2014 season.

Kajetan, who can be regarded as a rookie among drivers competing for European Rally Championship title, together with Jarek Baran proved that they are able to find excellent pace on completely unknown stages, irrespective of their characteristics. It is enough to mention that Polish crew recorded stage victories in five of eight FIA ERC rounds in which they competed: from icy and muddy tarmac of Jänner Rallye through demanding route of classic Acropolis Rally, stages on volcanic islands of the archipelago of Açores, challenging gravel tests in Cyprus to tricky mountain roads of Swiss Rallye du Valais.

Excellent form of Polish crew and hard work of the whole LOTOS Rally Team resulted in winning FIA ERC Gravel Masters title, awarded by the series promotor to the quickest crew on loose surface. Although Kajetan and Jarek tackled only three of four designated gravel rallies (Acropolis Rally, Rallye Açores and Cyprus Rally), they scored a total of 191 points to clinch this award.

Fantastic performance of Kajetanowicz in extremely difficult Cyprus Rally, on rocky gravel roads punishing the car and tyres, in his first outing there, did not go unnoticed either. LOTOS Rally Team driver was awarded with Colin McRae Flat Out Trophy, presented to the drivers whose uncompromising performance and quick pace stand out among the rivals. Polish crew scored second place in this rally, fighting against experienced drivers from Middle East, who know those gravel stages very well.

Kajetan Kajetanowicz: – Of course I prefer to go home after rally with trophies but you cannot always win. It was a good, busy, emotional and successful season for us and our pace could result in even better place in overall standings. For sure we will not get overexcited after this season and we will work even harder. I know and I feel that there are a lot of well-wishing people who support us with good thoughts and positive energy – not only around us, but also far, far away. I hope that your wishes will come true very soon and we will have many reasons to celebrate together. I want to say thank you to Jarek, whole LOTOS Rally Team and M-Sport Poland team, but above all to the Partners of our team. Everybody was working at high revs, just like the engine of our Ford Fiesta R5. I learnt a lot during these eight fantastic rounds of FIA European Rally Championship. Each rally was difficult and most of them are not an adventure for big boys, but for grown-up men only. I am happy that in all of them – including the trickiest ones – we did well and at the end there was a prize for us: enormous joy. I know that the only way to progress is to demand a lot from myself and constantly raise the bar. Our achievements are measured by the effort we made in order to get here and reach our targets. I believe that you cannot give up and forget about your goals which seem to be too distant in time. This time will pass anyway and I – together with supportive team, sponsors and partners – can spend it on development and hard work which will enable us to enjoy our next achievements. Next year, thanks to our experience and fantastic team, we can think about fight for FIA European Rally Championship title.

Jarek Baran: – This year is just incredible. Three hundred days which passed since New Year’s Eve spent by us in Austrian town of Freistadt, where we were preparing for recce before Jänner Rallye, seem like a short moment of time. I can see, like in a kaleidoscope, thousands of corners which we described in our pace notes and then tackled. Snow, ice and freezing cold in Latvia, gravel and punishing heat in Cyprus. Moreover, I can see endless hundreds of kilometres of tarmac roads which diversity and level of rally toughness are hard to describe. This season is a priceless experience for us. On one hand I am happy that this year’s European Championship is already behind us because together with Kajetan and whole LOTOS Rally Team we worked hard and intensely. However, on the other hand I am already counting days to our next rally.

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