Rally Orlen 2008 an in-depth article on the event which was won by Krzysztof Holowczyc
Orlen Rally: Holowczyc wins as Bouffier defends Polish Championship
As expected, the Orlen Rally decided the Polish Rally Championship title.
Despite second place, Bryan Bouffier secured his second champioship in a row,
once again in Peugeot 207 S2000. The rally winner was Krzysztof Holowczyc, 1997
European Champion, who once again returned to the Polish championship to contest
a gravel event.
Holowczyc didn't start here by chance. In cross country rallies he drives
for Orlen, the biggest Polish petroleum company. Therefore his presence in the Orlen
Rally was practically mandatory, athought "Holek" was very happy to return
to the special stages. For the Poland Rally his team rented a 207 S2000 from Kronos
Racing, and Krzysztof was very unhappy when his chances for a good result
were lost after diff problem. This time the car was provided by TRT.
More drivers, who missed Karkonoski Rally, were present on the start list.
Leszek Kuzaj was back after wrist injury with his 207 S2000. Michal Solowow,
who also takes part in the European Championship, brought another Peugeot. Zbigniew
Staniszewski, who drives only on loose surfaces - where he can be very
fast - started in Lancer Evo IX. Fans were also counting on Michal Bêbenek
(Lancer Evo IX), winner of the Poland Rally, and as always on Kajetan
Kajetanowicz (another Evo IX). But still, only 35 drivers started the rally
and fans are very worried about the state of the championship.
The rally is held arund Plock and once again it's not a coincidence, that
Orlen's headquaters is also in Plock. The company wanted to bring the Polish
Championship to their city and in 2007 Warszawski Rally moved from
Ciechocinek to Plock and changed the name to Orlen Rally. This year the Rally HQ and
service park were located in Orlen refinery, ceremonial start, finish and the
tarmac superspecial were held in historical centre of Plock.
The city is happy to host the rally, but drivers and rally fans can't say the
same thing. The gravel stages around Plock are not very interesting. Drivers
complained that they are too fast, with many long straights - and on the
other hand, on slower parts, the road was often completely destroyed after only a
few cars. Drivers had problems coping with deep ruts and slushy surface.
The rally started on Saturday afternoon and it was clear, that despite
sporadic starts, Holowczyc is still very fast on gravel. Krzysztof took
early lead, in front of Zbigniew Staniszewski and Kajetan Kajetanowicz.
Patrik Flodin (Impreza N14) was fourth after SS2, but he retired on a liaison section
with a turbo related problem.
After the superspecial, the drivers went to the second loop of stages - this time in
the dark. Holowczyc was bulding up his lead, but a wet last stage of the day
was won by Leszek Kuzaj. "Kuzi" was first on the road and had to sweep in
the afternoon - now he was much faster and went up to the fourth position.
Kajetanowicz was fighting with Solowow and lost third position.
And what about Bouffier, clear favourite ? Bryan wasn't too lucky - he came
from France with the flu and it wasn't easy for him to drive fast. On the
other hand he didn't really have to - he had a big lead in the championship
and a position not far behind Kajetanowicz would guarantee him title.
Holek:
But Bouffier, sixth after SS2, was much faster in the night. Moreover, there
was a mistake with his time on SS4. Stewards corrected it and suddenly after
day 1 Bryan was third overall, in front of Kajetanowicz. There was more hot
news from stewards meeting. Kuzaj's co-driver, Welshman Craig Parry, had a
balaclava that wasn't on the homologation papers and Leszek got 30 s penalty.
Sunday morning welcomed the drivers with rain, the first stages were very
dramatic. Kuzaj did his usual trick - he finished the rally hitting a wall
of a water mill on first stage. Staniszewski had a problem with his car, and on
SS7 he hit a tree. Second position was up for grabs.
Kuzaj's crash:
And it was Bryan Bouffier who took it. The Frenchmen was felling much better,
started to win stages and he was chasing Holowczyc. Things got hot, when
Holowczyc, after problem with clutch, then jumped start SS 8, got a penalty and was
only 21 second ahead before final three stages.
Bouffier wash pushing, but Holowczyc did the sensible thing and controlled his
lead. Krzysztof finished 8.2s ahead of Bryan and they were both happy at the
finish. Holek said, that his main target was to beat Boufffier. "Bouffi"
added, that he loves to drive for the Polish spectators and he would like to be
here again next year.
Just like on the first day, Kajetanowicz and Solowow were fighting for third
place. Kajetanowicz was very fast on the first stage of the loop (he won SS
6), but Solowow fought back on other two. But on SS 10 Kajetanowicz stopped
fighting for the podium and started fighting for survival, after he got puncture
and made a fist sized hole in the gearbox. He was driving slowly, reached service
without any oil at all, and was very happy that he made it. So Solowow
claimed third position, and Kajetanowicz was fourth, but once again fastest
in gr. N.
Yet another fight was beetween Bêbenek and Kuchar (207 S2000). Just like the
last time, on Karkonoski Rally, Kuchar went ahead of Bebenek on the last
stage of the rally and was fifth. But Kuchar wasn't happy with his pace, and
so was the case with Bêbenek, who said, that small things simply didn't work
out.
The Polish Rally Championship 2008 will conclude in Klodzko, on the tarmac
stages of Dolnoski Rally. Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Michal Bêbenek will be
figting for 2nd place. Kajetan is 7 points ahead in standings, but there is
still 11 points to take, so anything can happen.
Krzysztof Holowczyc Rajd Orlen winner 2008:
Article: Witold Zygmunt, Rallyonline.pl / Motoplaneta.pl
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