Hołowczyc claims record 11th Baja Poland victory
Krzysztof Hołowczyc and Łukasz Kurzeja won the 18th edition of AKPOL Baja Poland, extending the Polish driver's record tally in the event to eleven victories. Competing in an X-raid MINI JCW Rally 3.0i, the crew dominated the special stages around Szczecin and Drawski Polygon to secure first place ahead of Michał and Julita Małuszyńscy in a Toyota Hilux EVO, with Adam Kuś and Maciej Giemza rounding out the podium in a Taurus EVO MAX.
The 2024 edition served as the fourth round of the FIA Baja Europe Cup, the sixth round of the FIA Central Europe Zone Championship, the fifth round of the Polish Cross Country Rally Championship, and the third round of the Czech championship. A total of 194 competitors from 13 nations started the event, with 81 vehicles and 150 drivers reaching the finish. The FIA Baja Europe Cup round covered 646.23 kilometres, including five special stages totalling 366.60 kilometres.
Kuś and Giemza won Friday's prologue in Szczecin, completing the 8.85-kilometre stage in 7:23.2, with Hołowczyc and Kurzeja 2.3 seconds adrift. However, the prologue determined starting order rather than contributing to the overall classification. Saturday's three special stages on Drawski Polygon proved decisive, covering 314.44 kilometres combined. Despite a wheel change that cost approximately three minutes, Hołowczyc moved into the lead by the second pass through the polygon, winning that stage by over four minutes and never relinquishing top spot. He won four of the five special stages overall and finished with a margin of 6:36.1 over the Małuszyńskis, with Kuś and Giemza a further 7:27.7 back.
In the Polish Cross Country Rally Championship, the podium remained unchanged, with Hołowczyc and Kurzeja also topping the FIA Central Europe Zone Championship and Czech championship classifications. Benediktas Vanagas and Aisvydas Paliukenas finished fourth overall and were the highest-classified regular FIA Baja Europe Cup participants, though their Toyota caught fire immediately after the final stage due to a hydraulic line failure near the exhaust; the crew extinguished the blaze and saved the vehicle. In the motorcycle category, Kamil Piątek overcame a 54.2-second deficit to Marcin Talaga on Sunday's final stage, ultimately winning by 1:36.2.