After recording the maximum score and impressive victory in the Cyprus Rally, Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Jarek Baran commence the fight in the Acropolis Rally (9-11 October) with comfortable lead in the FIA European Rally Championship standings. The LOTOS Rally Team crew is incredibly consistent and effective this year, scoring 198 points in seven outings so far. Thanks to their impressive performance only one crew, Craig Breen and Scott Martin, can beat them in the title fight. Kajto and Jarek have 62 points advantage over the factory Peugeot duo and it gives them a chance to clinch the FIA ERC title with one round to go. Kajetanowicz and Baran will win the Championship if they score at least 16 points out of 39 possible on the stages which infamously punish the cars. It means that in order to celebrate the title, the Polish crew need 47 points more than the reigning European Rally Champions – Esapekka Lappi and Janne Ferm – scored last year.

Kajetanowicz will start the fight for coveted points after defending the FIA ERC Gravel Master title and raising his tally of specialist’s awards to three: in February he also clinched the FIA ERC Ice Master title. The Polish driver sealed his last award with excellent performance in the Cyprus Rally, previous round of the FIA ERC. Now the LOTOS Rally Team crew faces not only the European Championship’s frontrunners on extremely demanding routes of the legendary Acropolis Rally which was one of the most difficult rounds of the World Rally Championship 38 times. Polish crew have to tackle nine very twisty and long special stages, with high temperatures, big elevation changes, unbelievably rough surface full of stones capable of destroying the rally tyres and, on top of that, lot of dust which severely limits the visibility. The competition in the Acropolis Rally starts with the longest stage in this year’s FIA ERC calendar: 43.41-kms Kineta-Loutraki test. The crews fighting for the laurels in Europe have not contested such long stage since the merger between FIA European Rally Championship and the prestigious Intercontinental Rally Challenge series.

Round 9 of the oldest rally series in the world will mark 100th start for Kajetanowicz and 60th for Jarek Baran as his co-driver. The list of the previous Acropolis Rally winners is full with former famous champions, with the likes of Colin McRae, Sébastien Loeb, Miki Biasion, Carlos Sainz and Walter Röhrl. On Sunday 11 October, around 3:45 pm CET, we will see which participant of the penultimate round of the 2015 FIA ERC will join this respectable group of true rally legends.

Kajetan Kajetanowicz: – The Acropolis Rally comes right after the Cyprus Rally and I have a feeling that the brakes in my rally car will not even get a chance to cool down and the adrenaline level among all LOTOS Rally Team members does not fall but instead grows all the time. We face an epic rally and we have a responsible task! It seems that with the advantage we worked out in previous rallies there is only one short step we need to take in order to reach the coveted goal. However, the only short thing is the time we have for work and preparation before this exhausting battle. The faith of the Polish fans and their support sometimes help me to forget about fatigue and to focus on my target. We need maximum levels of concentration and motivation in our team, so that I could push the pedal to the metal when the light goes green on the first special stage and further ones of the epic Acropolis Rally. 

1st position of Kajetanowicz and Baran in the overall standings of the FIA ERC before the Acropolis Rally;

9th round of 10 in the FIA European Rally Championship 2015;

2nd outing of Kajetanowicz in this event;

38 times the Acropolis Rally was a round of the World Rally Championship;

1594 kms – straight line distance from Warsaw, capital city of Poland, to the rally base in Loutraki;

198 points scored by the LOTOS Rally Team crew in their first seven outings in the FIA ERC 2015;

Total score of 208 points for the Polish crew will guarantee them the FIA European Rally Championship title, irrespective of the results of their rivals. Last year the Finnish crew Lappi/Ferm clinched the title with just 161 points;

5 victories in the Acropolis Rally scored by Colin McRae – 1995 World Rally Champion;

89% of this year’s stages in the FIA ERC Kajetanowicz and Baran finished in top three;

62 points – the advantage of Kajetanowicz and Baran in the FIA ERC overall standings before the Acropolis Rally;

Nine special stages with total length of 202.5 kms in this year’s Acropolis Rally;

42 out of 99 – the amount of stage victories claimed by Kajetanowicz and Baran in this year’s FIA ERC rounds;

27% (54.71 kms) of special stages run on Tarmac, the remaining 73% (147.86 kms) run on stony roads around Loutraki;

43.41 kms – the longest special stage of the rally, Kineta-Loutraki test. This is the longest stage in this year’s FIA European Rally Championship;

In 1973 the Acropolis Rally was included in the World Rally Championship calendar; since 2014 it is a round of the FIA ERC;

Last year Kajetanowicz and Baran finished 6 out of 13 stages of the Acropolis Rally in top three.

2. Craig Breen (Ireland) 136 points

3. Alexey Lukyanuk (Russia) 120 points

4. Robert Consani (France) 79 points

5. Bruno Magalhães (Portugal) 68 points

6. Jaromir Tarabus (Czech Republic) 56 points

7. Siim Plangi (Estonia) 43 points

8. Jan Kopecky (Czech Republic) 36 points

9. Dominykas Butvilas (Lithuania) 36 points

10. Freddy Loix (Belgium) 35 points

9:03 – Qualifying Stage (3.1 kms)

14:00 – Ceremonial Start

15:28 – SS 1 – Kineta-Loutraki (43.41 kms, 90.3% gravel, 9.7% Tarmac)

17:23 – Service A – 30 minutes (Loutraki)

18:36 – SS 2 – Kineta (24.33 km, 82.7% gravel, 17.3% Tarmac)

Flexi Service B – 45 minutes (Loutraki)

6:00 – Service C – 15 minutes (Loutraki)

6:58 – SS 3 – Athikia (17.93 kms, 29.1% gravel, 70.9% Tarmac)

7:31 – SS 4 – Klenia Mycenae (20.67 kms, 73.6% gravel, 26.4% Tarmac)

8:58 – SS 5 – Kefalari (18.66 kms, 97.6% gravel, 2.4% Tarmac)

10:01 – SS 6 – Ziria (20.31 kms, 55.4% gravel, 44.6% Tarmac)

11:49 – Service D – 30 minutes (Loutraki)

13:02 – SS 7 – Athikia (17.93 kms, 29.1% gravel, 70.9% Tarmac)

13:35 – SS 8 – Klenia Mycenae (20.67 kms, 73.6% gravel, 26.4% Tarmac)

15:02 – SS 9 – Kefalari (18.66 kms, 97.6% gravel, 2.4% Tarmac)

16:30 – Service E – 10 minutes (Loutraki)

16:40 – Finish and prize-giving ceremony

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