Kajetan Kajetanowicz (above) leads at the end of day 1
Christos Demosthenous (above) leads the local crews in 7th place overall
After an exhilarating battle with Saudi Yazeed Al Rajhi, Kajetan Kajetanowicz drove his Ford Fiesta R5 through adversity, a puncture and a 10 second penalty for leaving the Service Park late to end up in first place at the end of leg 1 of the CNP ASFALISTIKI Cyprus Rally 2014. The Pole managed to be fastest in four of today’s eight special stages (SS3, 5, 6, 9) and holds on to the lead by a mere 3.8 seconds. It must be noted that according to ERC regulation the top 7 drivers of each day are awarded points (7 points for the leading driver and one less for each driver from there onwards). Yazeed Al Rajhi drove a near-flawless first leg and is pleased with how the day ended with Kajto having to clean most of the roads ahead of him in Leg 2. Abdul Aziz Al-Kuwari with Kylian Duffy by his side drove Ford Fiesta into third place at the end of day 1 and leads Khalid Al Qassimi in the battle for the precious MERC points on offer here in Cyprus after the unceremonious exit of Nasser Al Attiyah in the road section this morning following an overheating engine. Thirty seconds stand between Al-Kuwari and Al Qassimi who will slug it out tomorrow for the MERC win that’s up for grabs. Al Attiyah was initially thinking of returning tomorrow under Rally 2 rules however the team decided not to carry on at all.
Fifth fastest of the day was Bruno Maghalaes who drives a Peugeot 208 T16. The Portuguese driver had trouble on the gravel parts of the day but seemed confident enough in being able to set the car up for tomorrow when gravel will be the prominent surface in the six stages to come. Maghalaes is currently 1 minute and 6 seconds above the very unlucky Craig Breen. The driver from the Emerald Isle faced all sorts of trouble today with his Peugeot 208 T16 after a puncture and serious power steering issues, an overheating engine running mostly in “road mode” as well as difficulty driving in the dust kicked up by leading cars. He ends the day in sixth place having picked up a penalty of 1 minute and 20 seconds after a later arrival at a stage in the morning loop.
Great first day for the Cypriot crews
Christos Demosthenous currently leads the local crews and ends the day being seventh fastest overall in what was a fantastic day for three Cypriot drivers finding themselves in the top ten. Demosthenous who drives a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX with Pambos Laos by his side is currently 1 minute and 30 seconds above Stavros Antoniou. With “Chips Junior” by his side, Antoniou and their Mitsubishi Evo IX showed incredible pace in leg one but they have a great battle on their hands brewing for day 2 as they have Petros Panteli breathing down their neck in 9th place just 2.7 seconds behind their fellow countrymen. The top ten are rounded up by Vitaliy Puskhar and Ivan Mishyn who were very happy with their Mitsubishi Evo X but have to be careful as another local crew, that of Michael Posidias and Phanos Christophi, is a mere 1.8 seconds away in 11th place.
More action to come tomorrow
All cars and crews will now have a much needed service and rest as tomorrow promises to be even tougher with gravel being the protagonist in all of the six stages. The three stages that will be repeated are Tseri (14.24 km), Asinou (11.52 km) and Xerarkaka (21.05 km). The first car in Tseri is expected to start at 09:25. Another thrilling day awaits us as the CNP ASFALISTIKI Cyprus Rally 2014 will come to a head after six more tough special stages.
Leg 2 Sunday September 21st
SS10 Tseri 14.25 9:25
SS11 Assinou 11.52 10:53
SS12 Xerarkaka 21.05 11:31
SS13 Tseri 2 14.25 14:19
SS14 Asinou 2 11.52 15:47
SS15 Xerarkaka 2 21.05 16:25
Finish 18:30
Results LEG 1
1 Kajetan Kajetanowicz Jaroslaw Baran Ford Fiesta R5 1:43:09.6
2 Yazeed Al Rajhi Michael Orr Ford Fiesta RRC 1:43:13.4 +3.8
3 Abdul Aziz Al Kuwari Duffy Gilian Ford Fiesta 1:43:38.0 +28.4
4 Skh Khalid Al Qassimi Chris Patterson Citroen DS3 RRC 1:44::08.2 +28.6
5 Bruno Magalhaes Carlos Magalhaes Peugeot 208 T16 1:44:45.2 +1:35.6
6 Craig Breen Scott Martin Peugeot 208 T16 1:45:51.7 +2:42.1
7 Christos Demosthenous Pambos Laos Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 1:46:35.9 +3:26.3
8 Stavros Antoniou «Chips Junior» Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 1:48:06.0 +4:56.4
9 Petros Panteli Giorgos Alexandrou Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 1:48:08.7 +4:59.1
10 Vitaliy Puskhar Ivan Mishyn Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 1:49:18.9 +6:09.3
11 Michalis Posidias Phanos Christophi Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 1:49:20.7 +6:11.1
12 Panicos Polycarpou Gerald Winter Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 1:50:23.1 +7:13.5
13 Antonin Tlustak Jan Skaloud Skoda Fabia S2000 1:51:09.5 +7:59.9
14 Kyriacos Kyriacou Christos Aristedou Subaru Impreza 1:52:22.6 +9:13.0
15 D.Papasavaw Η. Christophorou Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 1:52:59.2 +9:49.6
SS Times
SS 1
1 Yazeed Al Rajhi 5:04.1
2 Robert Consani 5:06.9
3 Skh Khalid Al Qassimi 5:08.1
8 Panicos Polycarpou 5:25.7
SS 2
1 Skh Khalid Al Qassimi 9:38.3
2 Kajetan Kajetanowicz 9:41.3
3 Yazeed Al Rajhi 9:44.3
7 Stavros Antoniou 10:00.3
SS 3
1 Kajetan Kajetanowicz 15:45.8
2 Craig Breen 15:50.4
3 Bruno Magalhaes 15:57.5
9 Christos Demosthenous 16:43.0
SS 4
1 Yazeed Al Rajhi 16:47.7
2 Kajetan Kajetanowicz 16:48.6
3 Abdul Aziz Al Kuwari 16:51.8
6 Petros Panteli 17:18.2
SS 5
1 Kajetan Kajetanowicz 6:35.3
2 Craig Breen 6:36.5
3 Stavros Antoniou 6:38.2
SS 6
1 Kajetan Kajetanowicz 9:25.8
2 Yazeed Al Rajhi 9:29.1
3 Skh Khalid Al Qassimi 9:30.1
4 Michalis Posidias 9:52.4
SS 7
1 Kajetan Kajetanowicz 15:56.4
2 Bruno Magalhaes 16:05.2
3 Yazeed Al Rajhi 16:10.5
4 Christos Demosthenous 16:38.8
SS 8
1 Yazeed Al Rajhi 16:38.0
2 Kajetan Kajetanowicz 16:38.6
3 Abdul Aziz Al Kuwari 16:48.1
4 Christos Demosthenous 17:05.9
SS 9
1 Kajetan Kajetanowicz 6:29.9
2 Craig Breen 6:35.5
3 Stavros Antoniou 6:36.5
Abdul Aziz Al Kuwari
Stavros Antoniou
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