Adam Kuś and Maciej Giemza (Taurus EVO MAX) won Saturday’s opening special stage at 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) took fourth despite stopping to change a wheel.

Saturday’s action began with the 128.40km Oleszno 1 stage at the Drawsko Military Training Ground. It was the first of three special stages scheduled for the day, covering a total competitive distance of 314.44km.

KUŚ WINS OPENING STAGE

Kuś and Giemza completed SS1 in 1h 22min 34.2sec at an average speed of 93km/h. Having also set the fastest time on Friday’s Prologue, they moved into the overall rally lead.

“There is always room to improve and go faster, but we maintained a good, consistent pace. We won the stage outright, so we are very happy. It was a fast route with plenty of long straights, where we lose quite a lot, but we made the most of the corners. The surface will become rougher with each pass, placing greater strain on our smaller wheels,” said Kuś.

Kotwica and Jędrzejewski finished 12.3sec behind the leaders, while the Małuszyńskis were 22.2sec off the pace. Hołowczyc and Kurzeja, who opened the road, stopped at kilometre 44 to change a wheel. GPS data indicated that the halt cost them around three minutes. Despite the delay, the ten-time Baja Poland winner completed the stage just 27.6sec behind Kuś and Giemza.

Mārtiņš Sesks, making his rally-raid debut alongside Didzis Zarins in the BAIRONS SRT VIKING, finished fifth. The Latvian crew trailed the leaders by 1min 34.2sec.

VANAGAS LEADS FIA EUROPEAN BAJA CUP CONTENDERS

Benediktas Vanagas and Aisvydas Paliukenas (Toyota Hilux) set the sixth-fastest time, 1min 44.7sec behind the winners. The Lithuanians were also the quickest crew registered to score points in the FIA European Baja Cup.

“I was a little sleepy at the beginning and could feel it in my pace. We had not expected so much water and the car was not set up for those conditions, so we had to be cautious. Running second on the road also made it difficult in places to pick out the right line. Most importantly, we are the leading European Cup crew, which is our main objective here. I believe we can be much faster on the second pass,” said Vanagas.

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+) rounded out the top 10.

TALAGA FASTEST AMONG MOTORCYCLES AND QUADS

Marcin Talaga (GasGas 450) set the fastest time in the Polish Baja Rally Championship, completing the stage in 1h 32min 48.5sec. He finished 5min 07.7sec ahead of Kamil Piątek (GasGas EC450F). Jakub Nowak (Polaris Scrambler) was the quickest quad rider and placed third overall.

Jakub Żwirek (Polaris Scrambler 1000S) took the lead in the Polish Baja Rally Cup. Sławomir Zamorski (Can-Am Outlander XTP 1000) and Wojciech Biedron (Polaris Sportsman) followed in second and third.

AKPOL BAJA POLAND 2026 – STANDINGS AFTER SS1 (FIA EUROPEAN BAJA CUP):

  1. Adam Kuś / Maciej Giemza (Taurus EVO MAX) 1h 22min 34.2sec
  2. Bartłomiej Kotwica / Arkadiusz Jędrzejewski (Taurus T3 Maxx) +12.3sec
  3. Michał Małuszyński / Julita Małuszyńska (Toyota Hilux EVO) +22.2sec
  4. Krzysztof Hołowczyc / Łukasz Kurzeja (X-raid MINI JCW Rally 3.0i) +27.6sec
  5. Mārtiņš Sesks / Didzis Zarins (BAIRONS SRT VIKING) +1min 34.2sec
  6. Benediktas Vanagas / Aisvydas Paliukenas (Toyota Hilux) +1min 44.7sec
  7. Mariusz Wiatr / Łukasz Łaskawiec (Ford F150 EVO+) +2min 01.4sec
  8. Marcin Nasiłowski / Michał Goleniewski (Taurus Max) +2min 27.2sec
  9. Włodzimierz Grajek / Szymon Marciniak (Toyota Hilux GR) +3min 52.5sec
  10. Miroslav Zapletal / Marek Sýkora (Ford F150 EVO+) +4min 19.8sec