The Skoda brand secured the title in the FIA European Rally Championship for the third time in a row. The Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm crew may not have finished the season finale in Corsica , but these factory riders lead the driver and co-driver classification and are the champions. The crew of Sepp Wiegand/Frank Christian also has reason to rejoice, as second place in the overall classification confirmed Skoda 's double victory in the continental championship.
"It is the biggest success of my career. I thank the entire SKODA Motorsport team and my co-driver Janne – everyone did a great job", commented Lappi . As European champion, this 23-year-old driver follows in the footsteps of his colleagues at Skoda, Jan Kopecky (2013) and Juh Hänninen (2012), who won this title in the past two years with the successful Fabia S2000 model. Lappi earned the triumph with three victories at the ERC competitions in Latvia , Northern Ireland and Switzerland .
Unfortunately, the Finnish rider did not finish the long-standing " Tour de Corse " after going off the track on the last special stage of the first day. Fortunately, the successful crew was not injured. At the time of the withdrawal, Lappi was in a promising third place. “We had a good start to this rally, but then I misjudged one corner. I'm sorry for the sake of the whole team", said Lappi .
The big problem of this traditional rally: Drivers who started earlier polluted the asphalt with mud from the edge of the track. And those who started later – Lappi started on the track fourth – had to fight with that. Everything was complicated by the fact that the track was slippery and wet in places despite the shining sun. Unpredictable conditions with consequences for Esapekka Lappi. He did not start the " Tour de Corse " until the second day.
Nevertheless, Skoda is certain of a double victory in the ERC : Lappi secured the title with 162 points ahead of his colleague Wiegand (128), who reached the podium four times during the season. In addition to this triumph, Skoda also has a hat-trick of titles in the brand and driver ratings in the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) already before the weekend finale in China, which is the most important market for the Skoda brand. Skoda factory driver Jan Kopecký is the new champion ahead of his teammate Gaurav Gill , who won this championship last year. Last year's European champion Kopecký is the first rally driver to win first the ERC and then the APRC in two consecutive years.
This top four-wheel drive car from Mladá Boleslav is also on the list of champions in four national championships. Experienced Belgian driver "Fast" Freddy Loix , who won the European Rally Championship in his home country in June in a Fabia S2000 , secured the Belgian championship . Before that, the championship was won in Portugal by Pedro Meireles , supported by Skoda Portugal. Furthermore, the very experienced Raimund Baumschlager secured his twelfth rally championship in Austria with the Fabia S2000. In addition, the Poles Grzegorz Grzyb/Robert Hundla won the championship in Slovakia .
Source: Skoda Motorsport
