Rally Poland: Škoda crews want to shine on WRC comeback of Masurian gravel stages

› Oliver Solberg and co-driver Elliott Edmondson (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) chase second WRC2 season victory at the FIA World Rally Championship’s seventh round
› Toksport WRT teammates Gus Greensmith/Jonas Andersson (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) so far also have one category win under their belt
› Competing with a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 of team RaceSeven, 2023 WRC2 Challenger champion Kajetan Kajetanowicz and co-driver Maciej Szczepaniak are well prepared for their home event.

Mladá Boleslav, 26 June 2024 – After seven years, Rally Poland (27-30 June 2024) returns to the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC). On the fast gravel stages in the Mikołajki area, right in the heart of the Masurian Lake District in the North of the country, several Škoda crews fight for top positions in the WRC2 category.

Škoda Motorsport has good memories of Rally Poland’s last appearance on the WRC calendar: Driving for customer team Printsport, Ole Christian Veiby/Stig Rune Skjærmoen won the WRC2 category in 2017 followed by Škoda Motorsport crew Pontus Tidemand/Jonas Andersson. Andersson is back in action this year – albeit as co-driver to Gus Greensmith in a Toksport WRT run Škoda Fabia RS Rally2. The British-Swedish pairing chases its second WRC2 victory of the 2024 season with Greensmith listed ninth in the WRC2 overall standings.

Another Toksport WRT crew with hopes for a good result are Oliver Solberg from Sweden and British co-driver Elliott Edmondson. The Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 crew enjoyed an excellent preparation for the fast gravel roads of Rally Poland: They travel to Mikołajki on the back of winning the Royal Rally of Scandinavia, a gravel round of the FIA European rally Championship equally as fast. “For basically all WRC2 crews, the stages of Rally Poland are new. So, it should be level playing field. Anyway, I will attack and go for maximum championship points,” 22-year-old Solberg promises, who already won one WRC2 event during this season and currently holds third overall position in WRC2. His chances to make up ground in the standings are good: Overall leader Yohan Rossel and runner-up Jan Solans have not nominated Rally Poland as one of their seven points scoring events.

Among the 23 crews entered into WRC2 category, only six are not competing with a Škoda Fabia in Rally2 specification. Loyal to the Czech brand, Toksport WRT’s Josh McErlean/James Fulton from Ireland and TGS Worldwide’s Lauri Joona/Janni Hussi from Finland have set themselves the goal of a top position in WRC2. The same counts for local heroes Kajetan Kajetanowicz/Maciej Szczepaniak (RaceSeven) and Mikołaj Marczyk/Szymon Gospodarczyk. Especially the Orlen Rally Team crew has an impressive track record at Rally Poland: Marczyk/Gospodarczyk won in 2022 and finished third in 2023 and also in 2021, when the event counted to the European championship.

In the WRC Masters Cup classification, which is reserved for drivers older than 50 years, three Škoda competitors hold the top 3 overall positions. With leader Mauro Miele (DreamOne Racing) from Italy absent, Germany’s Armin Kremer (Baumschlager Rallye & Racing) and Ricardo Triviño from Mexico (Triviño World Rally Team) have the chance to close the gap.

Rally Poland offers 19 special stages totalling 304.10 kilometres on sandy roads in the countryside of the Masurian Lake District, a popular holiday region in Northern Poland. The action kicks off in the host town Mikołajki on Thursday (27 June 2024, 5h00 pm) with the ceremonial start. The finish is scheduled for Sunday (30 June 2024, 3h15 pm).

Did you know, that…

...Rally Poland was first run in 1921 and is one of the world’s oldest still existing rallies?
…Rally Poland was included in the inaugural WRC season of 1973 and on this occasion only three teams were classified?
…after a hiatus Rally Poland was part of the WRC again until 2017, before making another comeback for the 2024 season?

Standings WRC2/Drivers (after 6 of 13 events)
1 Yohan Rossel (FRA), Citroën, 71 points (from 4 events)
2 Jan Solans (ESP), Toyota, 48 Points (from 4 events)
3 Oliver Solberg (SWE), Škoda, 43 points (from 3 events)

Standings WRC Masters Cup (after 6 of 13 events)
1 Mauro Miele (ITA), Škoda, 51 points (from 3 events)
2 Armin Kremer (DEU), Škoda, 50 points (from 2 events)
3 Ricardo Triviño (MEX), Škoda, 48 points (from 3 events)

2024 FIA World Rally Championship

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