Rossetti has enjoyed a stunningly successful month of May. First off, he won the second round of the ERC, the 37th Croatia Rally, outright, to add to the maximum championship points score he collected on the opening round of the series, the Rally 1000 Miglia, and then the very next weekend the Italian won the Rally dell'Adriatico, driving for the factory Scorpion squad, to move straight into the lead of the Italian Rally Championship. This weekend Rossetti's Abarth Grande Punto S2000 will be run by the Italian private team, Procar, and additional support will come from Fiat Auto Poland, as well as usual sponsors Omnia Energy Di Vita, Damaplast, Champagne De Vilmont, Cartiere Capostrada and USAG.

“After the Rally of Croatia, with Procar and United Business, my management company, we decided to go to Poland to defend the first position in the European Championship,” says Rossetti. “In December, during my first visit to Poland, I fell in love with the country’s beautiful landscapes and the warmth of Polish fans – the objective is not to disappoint the expectations of many fans and professionals, who are awaiting my return.”

Luca Betti (Peugeot 207 S2000) and Corrado Fontana (this time swapping his regular Peugeot 207 S2000 for a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) will as usual be Rossetti’s main rivals for the vital ERC points on offer this weekend. This Italian trio top the entry list for the Mikolajki-based rally, and in championship-leading order – after the first two ERC rounds Rossetti stands head and shoulders clear on 80 points, with Betti trailing on 40, and Fontana on 32 points.

All three Italian ‘guests’, as well as Czech driver Antonin Tlustak (Škoda Fabia S2000) and Yurii Protasov, will have to take on a strong field of local pilots in the quest for ERC points, with as many as four Polish drivers being entered for the important European series this year. Together with Michal Solowow and Maciej Oleksowicz (both in the new Ford Fiesta S2000), there are also Kajetan Kajetanowicz (Subaru Impreza) and Szymon Ruta (Peugeot 207 S2000) on the start list. Each of them plans to tackle at least five ERC rounds this year. Solowow, Kajetanowcz and Ruta start their European campaign during 67th Rajd Polski.

Apart from nine leading drivers mentioned above, there are many other pilots who are amongst the favorites to win what is Poland’s biggest motorsport event. One of them is Krzysztof Holowczyc (Peugeot 207 S2000), who was sixth last year when the 66th edition of the Rajd Polski was a round of the World Rally Championship. ‘Holek’ has won the event on three occasions: in 1996, 1998, and 2005. Three years ago though, due to a puncture, he failed to equal the long-time record of four victories, which belongs to Sobieslaw Zasada, winner in 1964, 1967, 1969 and 1971.

Škoda’s Leszek Kuzaj will be fighting for his third win on the Rajd Polski. He too is a prior winner on the event, in 2001 and 2006. The Rajd Polski will likewise prove a big challenge for Michal Kosciuszko (Škoda Fabia S2000), Tomasz Kuchar (Peugeot 207 S2000) and three-time Polish champion Bryan Bouffier (Peugeot 207 S2000), who have never won the event. There should also prove to be an interesting battle in the Citroën Racing Trophy, with competitors looking to beat the Bebenek brothers who have claimed the first two rounds of this year’s title chase. It will be a difficult task, with the Bochnia-based duo proving overall winners on the rally two years ago in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX.