Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Jarek Baran – FIA European Rally Championship leaders – after yesterday’s Qualifying Stage victory started the 44th edition of Cyprus Rally on a high note. The Polish crew recorded top-three times on all four opening stages on Saturday, winning three of them. This means that Kajetanowicz and Baran scored their 29th, 30th and 31st stage victory in this year’s European Rally Championship. Thanks to their impressive efficiency and fantastic pace, LOTOS Rally Team crew enjoy comfortable lead in the rally. After covering almost 60 kilometres in dust and heat, on twisty and rocky roads of Aphrodite’s island, Kajto and Jarek built over one minute gap over second-placed FIA ERC crew Magalhães/Magalhães.

On top of that Kajetanowicz and Baran are faster after four opening stages than Nasser Al-Attiyah, multiple Middle East champion, leader of FIA MERC standings and double Dakar Rally winner. There are still four stages to go today. The crews will tackle Lythrodontas (22 kms), Lagia (10,34 kms) and Klavdia (11.42 kms) tests for the second time and will finish the day with spectacular superspecial (6.18 kms) on streets of Nicosia, capital city of Cyprus.

Kajetan Kajetanowicz: – It was a very successful beginning of the rally for us and very exciting at the same time. On the first stage we had a lot less grip than I expected. It was extremely slippery but it did not hinder us – unlike the dust which was virtually everywhere. Thick dust thrown by cars going in front of us hung in the air. We could not see a thing and it was very difficult to judge whether we were still on the road or out of it. Imagine that it was like driving blindfolded on narrow road, with high speed. Unbelievable! There are many sharp stones on the road, not only on the gravel sections. I was pushing very hard, there were few small mistakes but I am happy that there were not a lot of them. I think that in such intense fight, in a strong field, small errors can happen to everyone. The most important thing is that we have reasons to be happy after four stages. We are leading not only in FIA European Rally Championship standings. We are also quicker than the competitors in FIA Middle East Rally Championship who have vast experience on these roads. We will try to stay focused, as it is just the beginning of the rally. I am very happy with the performance of our car in these extreme conditions, so I want to straighten my right leg and push the pedal to the metal all the time, bearing in mind that the most important thing is to score points in FIA ERC standings.

2. Bruno Magalhães (Portugal) +1:19.1 s

3. Jaromir Tarabus (Czech Republic) +1:48.3 s

4. Robert Consani (France) +1:58.6 s

5. Christos Demosthenous (Cyprus) +2:14.2 s

6. David Botka (Hungary) +2:21.3 s

7. Antonin Tlustak (Czech Republic) +2:31.2 s

8. Alexey Lukyanuk (Russia) +2:48.9 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.