Baja Poland: Baja Poland Ambassador Krzysztof Holowczyc - "I love this rally".

In the seasons of 1995, 1996 and 1999 he won Polish Rally Champion titles. He was three times victorious in Rally Poland. In 1997 he added European Championship title to his credit. Nine times he started in Dakar Rally, while his best result in this marathon was 5th place.

He also won FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup in 2013 behind the wheel of Mini All4 Racing from X-raid Team. We mean Krzysztof Holowczyc, who is also ambassador of [ BAJA POLAND ] and one of the initiators who introduced the rally to life.

"Once we spoke with a few guys and we started to think about whether Poland could organise a round of the FIA Word Cup for Cross Country Rallies. At the beginning it sounded quite abstract, like the vision of Rally Poland in WRC again," Holowczyc remembers.

"Than it was Slawek Wasiak, a very good driver himself, who was also dreaming about small, Polish Dakar. Come and see what great stages we have here - he used to encourage me. I realized then that this idea has great potential, but the organization of the event requires a lot of work. So we made a list of things that needed to be done and got to work," Holowczyc talks about the Baja Poland beginnings.

"I always tried to lobby for our Polish event. I spoke about this event with my team, and competitors as well. I told them that we have a great place for a fantastic round of the Cross Country World Cup. Apart from the organizers of the Baja Poland have an unique ability, they are keen to use advice and competitors’ experience. It seems it is not usual situation," Holowczyc says.

"I love this rally, I won it three times but it wasn’t always gracious for me. In the first start, just after 2,5 km my engine caught fire. Last year a gearbox has failed and the final result was far from my dream," Olsztyn-born driver sums up.

The nearest Tuesday’s Baja Poland press conference cannot be missed by Holowczyc. He will arrive to Szczecin almost directly from the Baja Hungaria stages - the seventh round of the FIA World Cup for Cross Country rallies. Hungarian event is for him the best form of training before the start in Poland. Baja Hungaria is going to be the first rally, in which Holowczyc will go with his new co-driver - Moises Torrallardona. The Spaniard will co-drive Holowczyc also in Baja Poland.

- It is not easy to find cross country co-driver. I need a partner, who has competed several times in Dakar Rally, a partner with considerable experience. I must admit that I would prefer to start with Polish co-driver, but unfortunately now in Poland there is no free candidate who suits my and X-raid Team needs. Torrallardona is a man with great experience. He is a great navigator, who has had many starts in the trucks. In Hungary, we will see how he will handle working in Mini – Holowczyc ends.

This year's edition of the Baja Poland, just like a year ago, will be held on the last weekend of August in Szczecin (28-31 August) with the majority of the stages to be held around Drawsko Pomorskie and Dobra.