Polish duo commenced the final day of a great battle for victory in Rallye Açores with defeating overall rally leaders on SS12. Kajetanowicz and Baran showed impressive pace on Graminhais test, starting in town of Povoação, surrounded by semi-active volcanos. They were quicker than Breen/Martin in twisty section in the forest, as well as in quick, wide downhill part on the northern coast of the island – grabbing the lead in overall standings.

LOTOS Rally Team crew experienced some tyre issues on the longest, almost 21-kms Tronqueira stage. Kajetanowicz had no time to relax in extremely twisty section, with many corners in quick succession, but the hard tyre compound did not offer sufficient grip in these conditions and Polish crew could not maintain the lead.

Kajetanowicz and Baran made some amends for those difficulties on spectacular Grupo Marques superspecial. For the fourth time in a row they set the fastest time in a quarry, which forms a natural amphitheatre for the best rally drivers in Europe, reducing the gap to Craig Breen by 2.8 seconds. It means that LOTOS Rally Team crew stays within striking distance to the leaders. Kajto and Jarek have built a comfortable advantage over the rest of their rivals on fourteen special stages run so far. They are ahead of, among others, Ricardo Moura (seven-time Azorean rally champion) and Bruno Magalhães (two-time winner of this event).

There are still three special stages to go and 55 kilometres of competitive distance. The final loop starts with Vila Franca test, running partially through privately owned forest, on roads surrounded by flush vegetation. The fight will come to an end in the western part of São Miguel Island, where the best European rally drivers will tackle Graminhais and Tronqueira stages. Rallye Açores will finish at around 19:10 CET.

Kajetan Kajetanowicz: – We drove very well on the superspecial Grupo Marques, in a quarry. It is just incredible, as for the fourth time in a row we were quickest on this spectacular test, broadcasted live all over the world. I feel that our performance bring a lot of emotions also to the local fans who would probably prefer to have a Portuguese crew in our excellent position. Of course we are happy that we can win the fight with local drivers who know these roads very well. However, the most important thing for us is to gather experience and improve our driving and results. This is why we focus on the remaining stages, in the forest and mountains. The morning loop just proved how difficult these stages are. We drove a big part of one of today’s test in thick fog, with visibility reduced to 10-15 metres! We did it, although we are not used to such conditions. After 200 kilometres of competition our gap to the leaders is just 11 seconds and it is really encouraging. Now we face a very difficult task in the last three stages. For sure I will push Craig as much as I can, just like we did it in Ireland. In the morning we realised how difficult it is to make a right tyres choice with so little experience on these very diversified stages. Second place in such long, tough and exhausting rally is a great success but I have to admit that the whole LOTOS Rally Team wants to fight for victory.

1. Craig Breen (Ireland, Peugeot 208 R5) 2:03:48,6 s.

3. Ricardo Moura (Portugal, Ford Fiesta R5) + 1:20,1 s.

4. Bruno Magalhaes (Portugal, Peugeot 208 R5) + 2:19,9 s.

5. Robert Consani (France, Citroen DS3 R5) + 4:35,4 s.

6. Jose Pedro Fontes (Portugal, Citroen DS3 R5) + 4:42,2 s.

7. Sam Moffett (Ireland, Ford Fiesta RRC) + 5:54,9 s.

8. Dominykas Butvilas (Lithuania, Subaru Impreza STi) + 6:32,3 s.

9. Luis Miguel Rego (Portugal, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) + 7:35,6 s.

10. Jaroslav Orsak (Czech Rep., Skoda Fabia S2000) + 8:20,6 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