Press conference before Baja Poland 2017

The press conference before the beginning of the rivalry in ORLEN Baja Poland 2017 took place on Friday, September 1 in Szczecin and five competitors were present: Nasser Al-Attiyah – the FIA World Cup in Cross Country Rallies' leader, Jakub Przygoński – the runner-up of the series, Krzysztof Hołowczyc, Maciej Giemza and Klaudia Podkalicka. All of them shared their insights before the ceremonial start.

Klaudia Podkalicka: It is my sixth start in Baja Poland and I am very glad to have an opportunity to compete here, in my homeland in Szczecin. T2 class is getting stronger and stronger every year which heats up the competition so I reckon that I have the more difficult job to do than in the previous years. On the other hand, I know these stages very well and that makes me feel stronger. I rejoice that the rally is getting bigger and more serious. Because of that fact, plenty of foreign drivers willingly meet our city. We have lots of kilometers to cover, so we will see what time will tell.

Nasser Al-Attiyah: I am very happy to be back in Szczecin. I always meet many kind people here. The rally is different than other rounds present in the FIA World Cup in Cross Country Rallies' calendar. It demands going flat out from the start to the finish and I hope that we will repeat our result from the last years.

Krzysztof Hołowczyc: I have planned a specific, little-known tactics: I push the throttle at the start and let it go at the finish! For this ORLEN Baja Poland I have chosen the tyre that performs better on the wet surface so I surely rely on the rain. I am in the fine psychophysical shape and I am very glad to seat in the rally car again after an one year of the break. Our MINI ALL4 Racing has been upgraded so I am sure that we will be competitive.

Jakub Przygoński: The biggest mystery is the weather, frankly. All of us, maybe except for one person, count for sunny weather. All that I want to do during the rally is to go as fast as it is possible. However, if some difficulties or flat tyres happen, we will be forced to change the tactic because the points in the overall classification are very important for us. Every rally in this season is a kind of the training before the next Dakar Rally and it is no different in Szczecin.

Maciej Giemza: It is my third start in Baja Poland. Last year I managed to win and I hope that this time we will repeat that result. We do not have as many places in Poland to check us up on a Dakar motorcycle as we want. Because of that, every kilometer covered before the January event is important. The conditions, as wrong as they are, are the same for everybody. Because of the lack of the front screen I do not want to ride in rain the rain. l going to be an exciting competition!

Organizers

Fundacja BAJA POLAND    PZM

Co-Organizers

Szczecin     Dobra Szczecińska     Drawsko Pomorskie

 

Titular Sponsor

General Sponsors

Media partner

                  

Partners

 Mercedes Benz Auto Bogacka