Grande Punto Abarth S2000 pilot Volkan Isik will be targeting maximum FIA European Rally Championship (ERC) points when the Platinum 64th Rally of Poland gets underway with a short spectator-friendy 'superspecial' stage in Mikołajki this evening. 81 crews have registered their participation in the 64th edition of the Poland Rally, with 20 of these coming from abroad. The names of 7 of the drivers are on the FIA priority list, and many as 43 competitors are entering with N group four-wheel-drive cars, including four in the increasingly popular Super 2000 class. Those at the starting line in Mikołajki this evening will include three former European Rally Champions: Simon Jean-Joseph, Renato Travaglia and Krzysztof Hołowczyc.

The Grande Punto Abarth challenge for victory in Poland will be led by the participation of Volkan Isik in the Fiat Motorsports Turkey run entry and the official Fiat Auto Poland driver Maciej Lubiak in the Fiat Castrol Rally team entry. Isik is currently in 5th place in the ERC points standings with 11 points and will hope to make up for the disappointment he suffered in Croatia when the former Turkish national champion retired while leading the event overall. Regular Grande Punto Abarth driver this year, Pole Michal Solowow, will swap his Turinese mount in order to drive a Mitsubishi Evo IX for his home event. Five other crews will also be competing for European points this weekend: Travaglia, Jean-Joseph, Krum Donczew, Antonin Tlustak and Tomasz Czopik. Local rally fans are sure to be pleased with yet another appearance by Swedish driver Oscar Svedlund, whose rivalry with the top Polish drivers contributed much to the attractiveness of the last two rallies. Also taking part will, of course, be Leszek Kuzaj, Polish Champion and last year’s rally winner, and Tomasz Kuchar, the leader of the Polish Championship.

Guests at the organisers' press conference held earlier this week to get the 64th edition's proceedings underway included an appearance by two of the two leading Polish drivers, Hołowczyc and Sołowow, who will both be in action this weekend. The first of them, a former three times winner of the event, talked about the presentation of the Platinum 64th Rally Poland during this year’s Rally Portugal.
 

Hołowczyc, who attended that event, mentioned the level of interest in the Rally Poland among factory teams and the media. Sołowow compared the route and standards of organisation of the Rally Poland with certain rallies abroad – a comparison that proved highly favourable for the Rally Poland. “The special sections I know from last year are spectacular to watch and they’re safe. Fans are very interested in the rivalry, and recently I’ve taken part in rallies where the situation is the opposite. The ‘Polski’ deserves the status of World Rally Championship round,” insisted Sołowow.

The Poland Rally organisers' are pushing hard to gain a WRC calendar place. “The ‘Polski’ is a candidate rally for the FIA World Rally Championship as well as one of the ten rounds of the European Championship and the third round of the Polish Championship. The final schedule of next year’s WRC calendar will be decided on towards the end of October. We are doing all we can for the decision to be in our favour,” said Andrzej Witkowski, President of the Polish Automobile and Motorcycle Federation. The qualities of the beautiful Warmia and Mazury region and Mikołajki itself were presented by the town’s mayor, Piotr Jakubowski. As he pointed out, this will be the third time in a row for Mikołajki to host the Rally Poland. He also expressed his hope that the organisers’ efforts to join the world championship calendar would be successful. “Mikołajki, with its tourist facilities, is prepared to welcome the best riders in the world and their teams,” added Mr Jakubowski.

The Platinum 64th Rally Poland will get underway this evening with the 4.15 km long Mikołajki 'superspecial' stage. Twelve more stages spread over two legs will be contested before the rally finishes on Sunday afternoon, by which point the 81 competitors will have completed 699.50 km, with 279.66 km of this being timed.