A step from the victory

Bernhard Ten Brinke co-driven by Tom Colsoul (Toyota Hilux Overdrive) were the fastest crew on Sunday’s initial stage of LOTTO Baja Poland called "Dobra". Thanks to the result, the Dutch-Belgian couple was promoted to the lowest step of the podium in the event, pushing to fourth place Martin Kaczmarski. The leader of the competition remains Krzysztof Hołowczyc (MINI All4Racing) who was second fastest at “Dobra” stage. Hołek – as he is called by his fans - is now on the verge of a fifth victory in Szczecin classic. On “Dobra” test the third place was taken by Marek Dąbrowski and Jacek Czachor (Toyota Hilux Overdrive) who jumped to fifth position ahead of Dutchman Erik Van Loon (MINI All4Racing). Before the second passing of the "Dobra" stage, which is the final test of this year's LOTTO Baja Poland, a solid second place is occupied by Nasser Al-Attiyah (MINI All4Racing), a leader of the classification of the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies.

For the final stage all the crews started according to the positions occupied after two Saturday’s stages located near Drawsko Pomorskie. LOTTO Rally Team’s Krzysztof Hołowczyc and Łukasz Kurzeja opened the starting list of the FIA World Cup consisting of 39 crews.

Nasser Al-Attiyah when in the service park in Drawsko Pomorskie announced a full mobilization before Sunday's stage and a full attack on the first run of "Dobra" stage. The Qatari driver took little of his declarations and was fifth overall. For the first time in LOTTO Baja Poland the winner of the stage was the Dutchman Bernhard Ten Brinke behind the wheel of Toyota Hilux Overdrive, who overtook Krzysztof Hołowczyc by 3 seconds. Third overall was Marek Dabrowski who lost over a minute to the stage victor.

Before the final test of this year's LOTTO Baja Poland, the second run of “Dobra” stage Dąbrowski lies fifth, ahead of Erik Van Loon, seventh place belongs to Vladimir Vasilyev, eighth is Jakub Przygoński, ninth Adam Malysz and the current Polish champion in cross-country rallies Paweł Molgo closes the top ten.

This year's edition LOTTO Baja Poland so far was happy for the duo of "LOTTO School of Champions" Jarek Kazberuk and Robin Szustkowski. Ford Raptor crew in excellent pace run Saturday’s first stage leading the T2 category, but on the first Sunday’s test due to air intake failure n their car, they lost over an hour and chances for the podium.

The Szczecin native Klaudia Podkalicka (Mitsubishi Pajero) shows her utmost during LOTTO Baja Poland 2015. Before the final test she lies second in T2 category.

Quotes after the fourth special stage of LOTTO Baja Poland 2015:

Bernhard Ten Brinke / Tom Colsoul (Toyota Hilux Overdrive):  
– It was a really nice stage. We've pushed very hard and we won the stage. We're now 20 seconds of P2 and now will try our best to beat Nasser. Up until now everything goes good. We drove on the limit and we cannot go any quicker.

Krzysztof Hołowczyc / Łukasz Kurzeja (MINI All4Racing): 
– We had a good pace and we drove quite correctly, but with a lot of respect for some very slippery sections of the stage. In few places it was so slippery that we almost ended-up in the threes, but somehow we managed to miss them. I went out and damaged one corner of the car, but overall we didn't lose anything at this stage. 

Erik Van Loon / Wouter Rosegaar (MINI All4Racing): 
– It was a very tricky stage with a lot of bumps we didn't expect and deep ruts at the beginning, but we managed to survive so we're happy. 

Nasser Al-Attiyah / Matthieu Baumel (MINI All4Racing): 
– It was a short stage and we didn't take any risk, because we need points. I think that we lost a little bit of time, but now we're going to try to push a little bit harder to keep our second place. 

Marek Dąbrowski / Jacek Czachor (Toyota Hilux Overdrive): 
– I'm delighted with third place at today's stage, but yesterday's performance makes me sick. I can't ell a bad word about the team. It was our mistake with he set-up. It's a new car and we just tried too hard. Today the driving is fantastic. 

Martin Kaczmarski / Tapio Suominen (Toyota Hilux Overdrive): 
– Great stage but I'm not going to make a secret out of the fact that I didn't feel right while driving. When I pass by trees half a meter away from the car on both sides at 130 km/h I'm simply scared and that's the reason for my poor result today. I'm not giving up and I'll try my best for the fans because they are the reason for me to be here.

Jakub Przygoński / Andreas Schulz (MINI All4Racing): 

– During the second day of LOTTO Poland a special stage in Szczecin was held. It was a completely different stage compared to yesterday's. The route was very narrow and twisty, so I couldn't find the right rhythm. Obviously everything was completely new to me once again. There was plenty of trees and ruts, so you have to feel the car very well. 

Adam Małysz / Xavier Panseri (MINI All4Racing): 

– The stage, like all stages here, was tight and twisty. When not through the forest, then through the fields. We made a few mistakes and spun the car. From now on we need to keep our own pace, get used to each other with my new co-driver and train before the Dakar. That's our priority at the moment.

Klaudia Podkalicka / Błażej Czekan (Mitsubishi Pajero):

- It was a very difficult stage. I thought that the test will be faster and will be more gravel on it. It turned out that there was a lot of sand and we are not prepared for such conditions in terms of tires. We maintain second place in the T2 and this is most important.

Jarosław Kazberuk / Robin Szustkowski (Ford Raptor):

- Up until the thirtieth kilometer the pace was great, then the car suddenly stopped. It was and electrical failure. We kept trying to start the engine and it kept stalling. We checked the electrical circuit and when we finally fixed it we were driving with a stage-winning pace again, but it was to all to late. We hope to win the final stage though.

Organizers

Fundacja BAJA POLAND    PZM

Co-Organizers

Szczecin     Dobra Szczecińska     Drawsko Pomorskie

 

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