Adam Kuś and Maciej Giemza (Taurus EVO MAX) won Saturday's opening special stage of the AKPOL Baja Poland 2026, beating Bartłomiej Kotwica and Arkadiusz Jędrzejewski (Taurus T3 Maxx) by 12.3 seconds. Michał and Julita Małuszyński (Toyota Hilux EVO) finished third, while Krzysztof Hołowczyc and Łukasz Kurzeja (X-raid MINI JCW Rally 3.0i) claimed fourth despite stopping to change a wheel.
Saturday's action began with the 128.40-kilometre Oleszno 1 special stage at the Drawsko Training Area. It was the first of three stages scheduled for the day, with a combined competitive distance of 314.44 kilometres.
Kuś and Giemza completed SS1 in 1h22m34.2s, averaging 93 km/h. The winners of Friday's prologue consequently moved into the overall lead of the rally.
“You can always drive better and faster, but we maintained a good, consistent pace. We won the overall classification on the stage, so we're very happy. The route was faster, with a lot of straights where we lose quite a bit of time. In the corners, however, we made the most of everything we had. On the following passes, the ruts will become deeper, which will put more strain on our smaller wheels,” Kuś explained.
Kotwica and Jędrzejewski finished just 12.3 seconds behind the leaders, while the Małuszyńskis were 22.2 seconds off the winning time.
Hołowczyc and Kurzeja, the first crew onto the stage, stopped at kilometre 44 to change a wheel. According to GPS data, the stop cost them around three minutes. Remarkably, the ten-time Baja Poland winner still completed the stage only 27.6 seconds behind Kuś and Giemza.
Fifth place went to rally-raid newcomers Mārtiņš Sesks and Didzis Zarins in the BAIRONS SRT VIKING. The Latvian crew finished 1m34.2s behind the leaders.
Benediktas Vanagas and Aisvydas Paliukenas, driving a Toyota Hilux, set the sixth-fastest time, 1m44.7s behind the stage winners. The Lithuanian crew were also the fastest among those registered to score points in the FIA European Baja Cup.
“I was a little sleepy at the beginning and you could feel it in our pace. We didn't expect so much water, and the car wasn't properly prepared for those conditions, so we had to be careful. As the second crew on the stage, there were places where it was difficult to identify the correct line. The most important thing is that we're leading among the crews fighting for European Cup points. We should be faster on the second pass,” Vanagas said.
Completing the top ten were Mariusz Wiatr and Łukasz Łaskawiec (Ford F150 EVO+), Marcin Nasiłowski and Michał Goleniewski (Taurus Max), Włodzimierz Grajek and Szymon Marciniak (Toyota Hilux GR), and Miroslav Zapletal and Marek Sýkora (Ford F150 EVO+).
In the Polish Baja Rally Championship classification, Marcin Talaga on the GasGas 450 produced the fastest time.
Talaga completed the stage in 1h32m48.5s, finishing 5m07.7s ahead of Kamil Piątek on the GasGas EC450F. Jakub Nowak, riding a Polaris Scrambler, was the fastest quad competitor and placed third in the classification.
In the Polish Baja Rally Cup, Jakub Żwirek took the lead aboard his Polaris Scrambler 1000S. Sławomir Zamorski (Can-Am Outlander XTP 1000) and Wojciech Biedron (Polaris Sportsman) followed him in the standings.
1. Adam Kuś / Maciej Giemza (Taurus EVO MAX) – 1h22m34.2s
2. Bartłomiej Kotwica / Arkadiusz Jędrzejewski (Taurus T3 Maxx) – +12.3s
3. Michał Małuszyński / Julita Małuszyńska (Toyota Hilux EVO) – +22.2s
4. Krzysztof Hołowczyc / Łukasz Kurzeja (X-raid MINI JCW Rally 3.0i) – +27.6s
5. Mārtiņš Sesks / Didzis Zarins (BAIRONS SRT VIKING) – +1m34.2s
6. Benediktas Vanagas / Aisvydas Paliukenas (Toyota Hilux) – +1m44.7s
7. Mariusz Wiatr / Łukasz Łaskawiec (Ford F150 EVO+) – +2m01.4s
8. Marcin Nasiłowski / Michał Goleniewski (Taurus Max) – +2m27.2s
9. Włodzimierz Grajek / Szymon Marciniak (Toyota Hilux GR) – +3m52.5s
10. Miroslav Zapletal / Marek Sýkora (Ford F150 EVO+) – +4m19.8s
Source: Baja Poland
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