ERC
King Kajto wants more after ERC comeback
Kajetan Kajetanowicz said there is space in his diary for more outings this season after he finished fifth on his eagerly anticipated FIA European Rally Championship comeback yesterday
Polish hero Kajetanowicz, the only driver in ERC history to win the coveted title three years running, returned to the series that made him a household name on 82nd Rally Poland, his first appearance in the series since October 2017.
Despite not having driven competitively since the FIA World Rally Championship-counting Croatia Rally in April, the 47-year-old clocked a trio of top-three stage times and came within 1.1sec of equalling event winner Teemu Suninen’s best effort on SS11.
Top-three stage times were frequent on day two in Poland
© ERC
“Of course I’m really happy from this day, not the beginning of the rally, it wasn’t perfect, I missed the feeling from the first stage and the second stage,” the ORLEN Team driver said at the finish on Sunday evening. “Now it’s okay, it’s much better and we keep going like that. Okay our season is not full, but we should be happy. Fifth position is not so bad, but we would like to be on the top.”
Fifth position is not so bad, but we would like to be on the top
Kajetanowicz credited his engineer for helping to transform the handling of his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 for Sunday’s second leg. He said: “It was small difference with the balance and thank you to my engineer who gave me information because this is my second rally this year and my second rally with this car on Tarmac. I have no experience and it’s really important if you want to be on the top, if you want to fight with this strong competition.”
Asked if he’s contemplating more ERC outings in the future, Kajetanowicz said: “I don’t know, it depends.”
Thousands watched Kajetanowicz make his ERC comeback
© ERC
King Kajto relishes Rally Poland’s Tarmac return
Triple European champion Kajetan Kajetanowicz said the new-look Rally Poland was a “good idea” following the event’s switch to all-asphalt stages around Katowice having run as a gravel fixture in Mikołajki since 2005.
Kajetanowicz won Rally Poland three times when it was based in Mikołajki, including in 2013 when he became the first drive to win an ERC event driving an R5 (now Rally2) car.
“I’m good with this, it’s a good idea,” Kajetanowicz said of Rally Poland’s new format. “Okay I love gravel and I love Mikolajki but here we have everything what we need so I hope it’s going to be a nice future for this rally, in ERC or maybe WRC.”
