LOTOS Rally Team’s Kajetan Kajetanowicz heads into day two of the CNP ASFALISTIKI Cyprus Rally in control of proceedings. The Pole won all but one of the days stages in his Ford Fiesta R5 and goes into the final leg of the event with a led of over two minutes. Kajetanowicz demonstrated his physical strength and stamina as he tackled 30 degree temperatures to dominate the day’s action.
“It has been a fantastic day for us,” said Kajetanowicz. “The stages are amazing here, and we have had a good lap in the morning and in the afternoon, with only two mistakes. Feeling is very important here, because you have to read the roads well, because they are changing all the time. Tomorrow’s stages are much faster, so I might have to change my plans and not attack as much.”
Bruno Magalhães overcame mechanical gremlins in the morning to finish the day second in his Peugeot 208 T16 R5. The Portuguese driver had to be very careful not to spin and stall the car as his starter motor stopped working. Third-placed Jaromír Tarabus also had to deal with a few issues in his Skoda Fabia S2000 as a loose spare wheel moved and stopped the fan for the rear differential radiator turning, causing a transmission warning light to come on. The problem was quickly fixed and he managed an impressive afternoon.
Championship contender Alexey Lukyanuk was the unluckiest of the main competitors. The Russian won the opening test of the event and it seemed that his road position gamble had paid off but he lost power steering shortly before the end of stage 1. Lukyanuk had to complete stage two with the problem and lost two minutes.
Despite changing the steering rack in service, the problem turned out to be electrical and Lukyanuk had to contest most of the day’s action with no power steering, losing five minutes and dropping him out of contention. Christos Demosthenous and Dávid Botka are in a close battle for ERC2 honours with the former leading by 24.9 seconds.
Eight more stages greet competitors tomorrow for the final leg of the Cyprus Rally with action kicking off on the 13km Yeri 1 stage.
