European champion Jan Kopecký in front of Umberto Scandola and Sepp Wiegand : The Skoda family crowns a triple triumph at the home Rally Bohemia . Thousands of fans celebrated at the finish line in front of the Skoda Museum building in Mladá Boleslav the success of the domestic car manufacturer at the competition, which this year also marked the celebration of 40 years of Skoda RS models . Historic cars from previous years, both Fabia Super 2000 factory cars in retro design and the first test in competition conditions of the new 1.6 turbo engine for the new Fabia R5 competition car bridged the gap between the past and the future.
"Congratulations to Jan Kopecky and Pavlo Dresler for repeating last year's success. At the same time, we are all delighted with the excellent result of the Skoda brand", says Michal Hrabánek , head of the Skoda Motorsport team . He also praised the compact Rally Bohemia model, which, according to him, has become a good model for the future. Since 2009, when Skoda Fabia Super 2000 cars first appeared at the local traditional competition, this car has not found a conqueror at this rally.
The successful defenders of last year's championship, Jan Kopecký and Pavel Dresler, finished 43.9 seconds ahead of the crew supported by the Italian Skoda Umberto Scandola/Guido d'Amore team. Kopecký also completed a winning "hat trick" after victories in New Caledonia and Australia. Third in the order, Sepp Wiegand with Frank Christian, in the second factory car in a retro design, completed the perfect presentation of the SKODA brand. Also for Wiegand, after two podium finishes in the ERC, it was the third TOP 3 finish in a row.
"I am proud to have fulfilled the high expectations here at the car company's headquarters. It's a shame that my competitor Václav Pech dropped out so early today", says Jan Kopecký. "Thank you to the whole team for an excellent performance. We were just as excited as the thousands of fans on the track about the Fabia Super 2000 in the 1974 design”.
Sepp Wiegand was also satisfied after the successful chase and moving from fifth to the final third place: "I am happy that after two TOP 3 positions in the ERC I reached the podium here in Mladá Boleslav. I know that the team supported me the whole time and I wanted to return that trust.”
After raining on the morning of the finals, the sky cleared. In sunny weather, historic cars from the SKODA Museum were presented in the last rehearsal, such as the SKODA 200 RS model, which premiered at the same location in 1974. It was the beginning of a successful history in the serial production of very popular RS models.
The next chapter in the 113-year history of Skoda Motorsport will be written from 2015 by the new Skoda Fabia R5. Its 1.6 turbo engine was tested for the first time at this year's Rally Bohemia under competitive conditions by the factory crew Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm. "Thank you to the entire team for successfully passing the test in real competition conditions. It was another milestone in the development of a new competition car", comments Hrabánek.
But the successful team will not allow itself to rest. Already on Monday, Skoda is traveling to another ERC event in Estonia . There, Lappi and Wiegand will fight for more points in the European championship from Thursday to Saturday. Lappi is 33 points ahead of Wiegand and Craig Breen – both on equal points – after six of eleven races. Jan Kopecký returns to the APRC Championship, leading midway through the season. The next stop will be Rally Malaysia from 15 to 17 August.
Rally Bohemia – final standings:
1. Kopecký/Dresler (CZ/CZ, SKODA Fabia Super 2000) 1.30.36.7 hrs.
2. Scandola/D'Amore (I/I, SKODA Fabia Super 2000) + 43.9 sec.
3. Wiegand/Christian (D/D, SKODA Fabia Super 2000) + 1.10.8 min.
4. Podlojilík/Tureček (CZ/CZ, Ford Fiesta R5) + 1.26.9 min.
5. Vlček/Lasevič (CZ/CZ, SKODA Fabia Super 2000) + 5.24.0 min.
##SMBohemia##
Source: Skoda Motorsport
