The military ground for Nasser

Nasser Al-Attiyah, co-driven by Matthieu Baumel (Toyota Hilux Overdrive), firmly defeated two Poles: Aron Domżała co-driven by Szymon Gospodarczyk (Toyota Hilux Overdrive) and Jakub Przygoński partnered by Tom Colsoul (Mini John Cooper Works Rally) on the second run of the stage at the military ground in Drawsko Pomorskie. Thereby, the driver from Qatar extended his lead over the Pole to more than 4 minutes and made a sizeable step on his way to the second victory in a row in ORLEN Baja Poland.

This time Aron Domżała avoided serious problems and was present at the finish of the 215,90 kilometres long SS 3 Drawsko 2 with the second fastest result. Thanks to that result, the fifth competitor in the current classification of the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies has moved to the fifth place in the overall standings and closed the gap to Vladimir Vasilyev.

Due to Krzysztof Hołowczyc's mishap, whose car broke on the sixtieth kilometer of the afternoon's stage, Bernhard Ten Brinke (Toyota Hilux Overdrive) was elevated to the fastest four of the rally.

Vladimir Vasilyev reached the fifth result, but his loss to the leader is quite large and it is 6 minutes and 27 seconds now. The next driver who did not imply his contentment was Nicholas Fuchs (HRX Ford) and he took the sixth time. The driver from Peru, who has Polish origins (his grandmother's surname was Sierlecki and she speaks Polish as well), has moved up to the seventh place in the overall classification in his debut in ORLEN Baja Poland.

The 9th round of the FIA World Cup For Cross-Country Rallies is declining. Four stages, 58 kilometres long altogether, in the area of Dobra are waiting for the drivers who are going to arrive there tomorrow. The winner of this year's ORLEN Baja Poland edition will be known about 2 o'clock.

Drivers comments after the second stage at the military range in Drawsko Pomorskie:

Krzysztof Hołowczyc: - We were geared up to make our loss up on the second Saturday stage but the loss turned out to be even bigger. Unfortunately, technology defeated us today. We have some kilometres to cover tomorrow but we have to forget about winning and reaching any good result now. However, we are happy that I can still keep the pace and be faster than guys who compete on a regular basis. There is a moment when you can find your rhythm. I was driving quicker and more calmly and this is very important in cross-country rallies. Sadly, technology got ahead today.

Nasser Al-Attiyah: - We managed to finish the stage without any problems. It was not easy, though. Plenty of puddles were lurking on the road and in some places it was incredibly slippery. We are planning to drive the same strategy tomorrow.

Kuba Przygoński: - It is quite okay but it could be much, much better. We had a puncture and, due to a failure of our jack, we lost about 3-4 minutes altogether. It is a huge loss. The fact that our pace is looking very good is uplifting.

Ten Brinke: - We are at the finish. We were stuck in a drift of mud on the way and lost about one minute and a half on emerging from it. Our engine was not functioning well but after some kilometres everything was all right.

Aron Domżała: - We were stuck in a river. We had to reverse and lost some time there. We ran out of the windscreen washer because it were really a lot of mud there! Light rain was helping us for some time but during the last 20-30 kilometers we could not see much.

Miroslav Zapletal: - We had a puncture and decided not to change it by the end. We reached the finish but I am not sure exactly how many kilometres we covered in this way. The result is quite okay.

Nicolas Fuchs: - Although there are lots of mud on the road, we managed to avoid any problems and safely travel to the finish.

Organizers

Fundacja BAJA POLAND    PZM

Co-Organizers

Szczecin     Dobra Szczecińska     Drawsko Pomorskie

 

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