Crowning of the triumphant season – Kajetanowicz, Baran and LOTOS Rally Team receive the champions’ trophies at official ceremonies of Eurosport Events (3rd December) and FIA (4th December) in Paris;

Career-best season for Kajetanowicz – the Polish driver received trophies for the FIA European Rally Championship title and the FIA ERC Ice and Gravel Masters titles;

LOTOS Rally Team awarded for the victory in the FIA European Rally Championship Teams classification.

After 18 years of drought, the trophies for the best rally crew in the European Championship returned to Poland, thanks to the efforts of Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Jarek Baran. On 4th of December the European Rally Champions took part in the most prestigious event in the motorsport world: the official Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) Prize-Giving gala. The best of the best gathered on the stage of the famous Lido cabaret in Paris. All winners of the FIA-sanctioned series – from rallycross and karting to Formula 1 and rallies. Kajetanowicz and Baran received their trophies for winning the FIA European Rally Championship. They claimed the title in incredible fashion, with one round to go. The Polish crew scored points in every event they entered, finished on the podium seven times in eight outings, won three rallies and scored the maximum amount of points in two rounds – no other crew matched this feat over the course of 2015 FIA ERC season. The impressive pace of the Polish duo was proved by another achievement: the LOTOS Rally Team crew won an astonishing number of 38.5% special stages run this season (45 out of 117).

One day before Kajetanowicz and Baran attended the Motorsport Awards by Eurosport Events – the organiser and promoter of the international series: FIA World Touring Car Championship, FIA European Touring Car Cup, FIM Endurance World Championship and, above all, FIA European Rally Championship. During the gala in Porte de Versailles exhibition centre in Paris, Kajetanowicz and Baran received the trophies commemorating the latest achievements of LOTOS Rally Team from Sébastien Loeb – nine-time World Rally Champion. The Polish crew won not only the overall standings of FIA ERC in 2015: Kajetan Kajetanowicz also won the FIA ERC Ice and Gravel Masters classifications and LOTOS Rally Team topped the FIA ERC Teams standings, completing the Polish hat-trick (championship titles in Drivers, Co-drivers and Teams classifications). On the way to this title, the team of Kajetanowicz defeated, among others, the factory team of Peugeot which fielded two cars in many rounds of the FIA ERC, while the points for the Polish team were scored just by the LOTOS Rally Team crew.

Kajetan Kajetanowicz: – I have never imagined that one day the rallies would bring me to the stage of the famous cabaret in Paris :-) The role I had to perform made me a little nervous but I already know that we want to feel this kind stage-fright after each season. When I heard Jarek’s and my name, I had to pinch myself in order to realise that we found ourselves in a really elite company. The steps we took on our way to the stage were the most enjoyable I have ever done in my career. Each of them – on snow, ice, gravel and asphalt – I did with one objective in mind: to become better and faster driver. I cannot promise you another successes but I know for sure that we will not stop chasing them, together with our team. A lot of factors contributed to our triumph. I am grateful and proud because many good-hearted people added something to it. We would have not claimed the European Championship title without hard work of the whole LOTOS Rally Team, without efforts of the M-Sport guys, without support of our loyal Partners: Grupa LOTOS, CUBE.ITG and Driving Experience, without energy flowing from the fans. Today we are all the European Champions.

Maciej Woda, Managing Director of M-Sport Poland: – I would like to congratulate Kajetan and Jarek on their title. Words of appreciation are also due to the sponsors who believed in Kajetan’s talent and his constant strive for perfection, and to all team members. This is an excellent feeling and something to be proud of – to see the Polish crew, supported by the Polish sponsors and driving the car prepared and serviced by the Polish team, on the top step of the podium in the FIA European Rally Championship. This season Kajetan and Jarek showed not only great pace but also consistency on the stages – which is so important in rallies – and proved the reliability and competitiveness of the Fiesta R5 over the course of the long season. From my and M-Sport Poland’s perspective this title represents the culmination of the hard work of the crew and whole team – and I would like to heartily thank everyone for their efforts.

Paweł Olechnowicz, President of the Board of Grupa LOTOS S.A.: – These spectacular triumphs of the championship team are of no surprise. These people are simply top-class sportsmen. We are as delighted as they are and we congratulate them on their victory. We have two reasons to be proud of. Firstly, they are excellent, professional competitors representing LOTOS brand, and secondly, their victories emphatically show that intelligent and properly aimed sponsorship always bring envisaged results, even exceeding the expectations. Grupa LOTOS have adopted a transparent and well-balanced sports sponsorship strategy over the years and today it gives beautiful achievements and successes to the sportsmen, as well as unforgettable emotions and pure joy to the whole society. Motorsport is a priority for LOTOS – the brand working in fuel business – but our support is also directed at the clubs and sports organisations involved in other popular disciplines: football, ski jumping, volleyball, dance sport. We connect these two areas of sponsorship with third one, of eminently social and educational character: supporting the young people who engage themselves in sports, thus developing the future generation of sportsmen. We know that modern companies should actively contribute to the sports sponsorship because the effects of such involvement bring profits to the whole society and country. This is why LOTOS will consistently support the sportsmen, as there are never enough beautiful victories like those of Kajetan and Jarek, and there are never enough championship titles for the Polish competitors.