Baja Poland 2019: Holowczyc in his zone during first run at military range

Krzysztof Holowczyc and Lukasz Kurzeja were in class of their own when they blasted through 220-kilometre long route of Drawsko Pomorskie test. Five-time ORLEN Baja Poland winner clocked impressive time, over five minutes faster than second placed Jakub Przygonski, who won Polish World Cup counter in 2018 season. Series leaders – Orlando Terranova and Bernardo Graue were forced to retire after power steering issue in their MINI All4Racing.

Having set second fastest time on super special stage in Szczecin on Friday evening, Holowczyc and Kurzeja decided to go as a first crew on the road during Saturday battle at military range in Drawsko Pomorskie. This tactic paid off, as their rivals could not match their pace. Holowczyc was increasing his advantage kilometre after kilometre, and eventually finished SS2 with a top result. Second placed Przygonski and Gottschalk finished 5 minutes and 20 seconds adrift of stage winners. Vladimir Vasilyev and Konstantin Zhilcov in Overdrive-run Toyota Hilux were third fastest, losing nearly 12 minutes to Holowczyc.

Nevertheless, Przygonski can significantly reduce his gap to FIA World Cup leaders, because Terranova and Graue were forced to retire. Argentinian crew suffered power steering issue and lost the chance to win fourth Baja rally in a row.

Michal and Julita Maluszynscy (MINI John Cooper Works Rally), were fastest among Polish Championship regulars, after they clocked 4th time, which saw them move up to 4th overall. Maluszynscy outpaced current leaders of national championship – Miroslav Zapletal and Marek Sykora in Ford F150 Evo. Czech-Slovak crew lost nearly 1,5 minutes to MINI crew.

ORLEN Baja Poland 2019 – overall standings after SS2
1. Hołowczyc/Kurzeja (POL/POL, MINI John Cooper Works Rally) 2:24:32,7 s
2. Przygoński/Gottschalk (POL/GER, MINI John Cooper Works Rally) +5:17,5 s
3. Vasilyev/Zhilcov (RUS/RUS, Toyota Hilux Overdrive) +12:03,0 s
4. Małuszyński/Małuszyńska (POL/POL, MINI John Cooper Works Rally) +13:29,2 s
5. Zapletal/Sykora (CZE/SVK, Ford F150 Evo) +15:00,1 s
6. Vanagas/Rozwadowski (LTU/POL, Toyota Hilux Overdrive) +18:01,3 s
7. Molgo/Jandrowicz (POL/POL, Ford F150) +26:01,0 s
8. Grajek/Brakowiecki (POL/POL, BMW X5) +28:41,1 s
9. Navarro/Sola (ESP/ESP, Can-Am Maverick X3) +37:08,2 s
10. Vorobyev/Shubin (RUS/RUS, Can-Am Maverick X3) +37:08,5 s

Source Baja Poland