After 3 days’ struggle, from May 31st to June 2nd, Robert Kubica and co-driver Maciek Baran emerged as WRC 2 class winners in the Acropolis Rally. For the Grupa LOTOS team, the victory is all the sweeter as this year's sixth World Rally Championship event – also known as the ‘Rally of Gods’ – is one of the most difficult of all the gravel courses.

On Friday, the crew ran just two sections, which were nevertheless extremely demanding. The first of these was the longest in the rally, at nearly 50 km, while the other had to be tackled in the dark. Robert and Maciej achieved the best WRC 2 times over both stages, and after the first day of action in their class, had built a clear lead of nearly 40 seconds. In the general classifications they stood in 10th, with nine other WRC cars ahead of them.

The busy second day of the Rally Acropolis featured eight special stages with a total length of just under 150 km. Seven of these fell prey to Robert and Maciej's swift driving, which put them nearly two and a half minutes away from Yuri Protasov and Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari in a fierce rolling battle for second place.

During the afternoon, the crew again ran looped sections crossed during the morning, working with surface conditions that left a lot to be desired. At the end of the day, the teams even had to deal with rain, which added an extra edge to the experience.

Sunday's four special stages saw Robert and Maciej driving more tactically. They controlled the pace and dictated the situation in their category, earning them a clear finishing line advantage of one and a half minutes over the other WRC 2 crews of Yuri Protasov and Kuldar Sikk, with points leaders Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and Killian Duffy completing the podium 2 minutes and 13 seconds behind the winners.

In the final standings of this year's Rally Acropolis, Robert and Maciej took eleventh place, behind ten WRC cars.

"It was a fantastic weekend," said Robert. "We left a disappointing period behind us, in which a combination of my mistakes and the car's failures left us without any results to speak of. But now we've won a very tough rally and had a great day – for us, for Citroen, the PH Sport team and all my partners. Now it's time for the next challenge. I know I have a lot to learn, and in subsequent events I will have improved even more, but I still have a long way to go to reach the level I would like to be at."

Kubica's next start in the world championship is three weeks away, at the Rally d'Italia Sardegna, (June 20th-22nd) – another gravel circuit.

For more information on Robert Kubica and the LOTOS Rally Team's schedule – including Michał Kościuszko and Maciek Szczepaniak, and Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Jarek Baran – visit our Facebook page ‘Emocje do Pełna’ (Emotions to the Full) at http://www.facebook.com/EmocjeDoPelna.

Communication Office
Grupa LOTOS S.A.
ul. Elbląska 135,
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e-mail: media@grupalotos.pl