The first contenders for the victory in Baja Poland are already known. The tracks in Szczecin, Dobra, and Drawsko Pomorskie are waiting for the world's top drivers in cars, trucks, SSV vehicles, motorbikes, and quads. Who has already confirmed their participation in the rally?
Yasir Seaidan, Yazeed Al Rajhi, and Krzysztof Hołowczyc - these are the first names of the main candidates for victory, who have already confirmed their participation in the seventh round of the FIA World Cup and the third round of the FIA European Cup - the High Grzed Baja Poland.
Fight for every second
The duel between Krzysztof Holowczyc and Łukasz Kurzeja in the Mini John Cooper Works Rally and Yazeed Al Rajhi and Michael Orr in the Toyota Hilux Overdrive during the last round showed that this is not an exaggerated statement. These two drivers showed during last week's Hungarian Baja that they are not going to let up even for a moment. After more than 400 kilometers of racing, they obtained the same time exactly to the second and the results of particular stages had to decide about the ex-aequo.
In the end, Holowczyc was declared the winner, but Saudi Al Rajhi will certainly want to make up for it on the rally routes in Szczecin, Dobra, and Drawsko Pomorskie. He will not have an easy task, because Holowczyc, as a six-time winner of Baja Poland, knows the specificity of these routes like few others, and for Al Rajhi it will be a debut in Baja Poland.
"Baja Poland is my beloved rally. It can be said that I started my adventure with off-road rallies from Baja Poland. I dream about achieving a magic number of 7 wins in Szczecin, Dobra, and Drawsko Pomorskie". - says Krzysztof Hołowczyc.
The leaders of FIA World Cup points - Saudi Yasir Seaidan and Russian Aleksei Kuzmich, who have already started in Baja Poland, will certainly join the fight for the first step of the podium. This time we will see them together with Holowczyc and Kurzeja in the colors of the X-raid team and in a top Mini in the specification of the strongest T1 group.
Seaidan has already won the FIA World Cup rallies twice this year. These were the desert Al Sharqiya Baja and Jordan Baja. Al Rajhi, on the other hand, is second in the World Cup standings behind Seaidan, but is the FIA European Cup points leader and also boasts a victory in the Dubai International Baja this year. Holowczyc is third in the European Cup after his success in Hungary with a narrow loss to Al Rajhi.
"I am very happy to be driving with the X-raid team. All indications are that we will again be able to fight together for victory in the full FIA World Cup and European Cup series. The strategy for this rally is simple. I need to withstand the pressure and maintain the good pace I had in Spain and Hungary. This will be the key to success at the finish". - adds Holowczyc.
Michał Małuszyński and Julita Małuszyńska, who won a sensational second place in Wysoka Grzęda Baja Poland last year, will make their first start in the factory X-raid team. They will fight not only for FIA European Cup points, but mainly for defending the second position in the Polish Cross-Country Car Rally Championship. Their main rival will be well-known to Polish fans Czech-Slovakian duo Miroslav Zapletal and Marek Sykora in Ford F-150 EVO.
Interestingly, the Polish championship is led by Holowczyc and Kurzeja, who after winning Baja Drawsko Pomorskie and Baja Wysoka Grzęda have a considerable points advantage over their rivals.
Invasion of SSV vehicles
The stakes of drivers who will fight for victory in the SSV vehicle category are impressive even before the closing date for entries. It is opened by the leaders of the respective groups, namely Dania Akeel and Stephane Duple in T3 and Mshari Althefiri and Nasser Al-Kuwari in T4.
"I am extremely excited to discover a country I have never visited before. Thanks to the fact that I will be taking part in the next round of the FIA World Cup for Baja off-road rallies, we will see each other in Poland. I intend to improve my driving technique by exploring new terrains and I hope that with every kilometer of Baja Poland I will develop as a driver. I wish good luck to all competitors and I am looking forward to what awaits me at Baja Poland."
- says Dania Akeel ahead of her debut in the High Perch Baja Poland.
The ever more popular SSV often amaze with their speed and agility on rally routes, gaining popularity in recent years. We can regularly see them at the top of the timetables at more than one rally, and their qualities are well proven by, among others, third place in the general classification of last year's Wysoka Grzęda Baja Poland, won by Aron Domżała in a Can-Am Maverick X3 from the South Racing team. Aron Domżała will be there again this year on the rally routes of Baja Poland. Undoubtedly, he will be again the favorite not only to win the SSV category but also to win the general classification.
We will see numerous SSVs not only in the FIA World and European Cup classifications but also in other classifications of the FIA Central European Off-Road Championships, as well as the Polish and Czech Championships and Cups.
Automatic translation from the official press release
Source Baja Poland
