It should have been a great start to the second half of the season after the holiday break, four competition days and 360 sharp kilometers in the Finnish forests. Instead, this year's unfinished competition and a lot of worries. The Jipocar Czech National Team , led by Ford Fiesta RS WRC driver Martin Prokop , has been unlucky for the second year in a row at the Finnish Rally , and after a crash during the afternoon of the second day of the competition, he was forced to leave the competition due to irreparable damage to the car. The car is now being overhauled at M-Sport in England and will barely make it to the next event in the World Rally Championship – the German Rally .
Martin Prokop describes more: "This year's Finland was a bit crazy from the very beginning. The surface of the special stages was much drier and faster than in the previous years, of which I already remember a few. The world's top player once again set an incredible pace, which is a trend I've been following since Poland . The hunt for Volkswagen drives all the factory teams madly forward, and we privateers can barely catch our breath. But of course it's good for rally sport and its fans that everything keeps moving, improving and accelerating. Jenda and I didn't start the worst, I think, and concentrated on the fight with Henning Solberg for the imaginary post of the best non-manufactured privateer and tried to keep up with Evans' times. The distance from the top, within the pace that was being driven in front, was not the worst. Unfortunately, we got lost in the schedule on one test on Thursday morning, and after an excess of effort and commitment came the first trip among the blueberries, which slightly damaged the geometry of the rear axle and affected the behavior of the car in the following special stages. Nevertheless, I didn't give up, but in the heat of the fight, on the third afternoon test, I didn't keep the car on the road after the jump and hit some rocks with the right rear wheel. It was a big blow, but fortunately to the rear and the car spun around. It didn't hurt Jenda and us, but it was unfortunately a liquidation intervention for Fiona. Our whole team and the people from English M-Sport led by Malcolm Wilson tried to do everything to fix the car in the evening service and we could continue on Saturday and Sunday, but after removing the corrector, irreparable damage and twisting of the body could be seen , so the technical commissioners did not let us continue into the race, which is not surprising. I'm sorry for the crash, not only are we without points, but it complicated the preparation for Germany, however, it came in the heat of the fight when something was at stake and I was trying to go to the limit. It was not some unnecessary imprudence, inattention or loss of concentration.'
Manager Quirin Müller adds: "After the third unfinished competition this year and with a fundamentally damaged car, it is difficult to find any positives, however, I have to appreciate the work of our mechanics who, in cooperation with the people from the Ford factory team, were able to disassemble and completely disassemble the entire car to bare metal within ninety minutes body so that he could travel to England for resuscitation that very day. Now the work is calculated literally for hours, so that the German rally and also the test that will precede it can be done in peace. We have already prepared the second car as a client for the Slovakia World Rally Team , so there is no other choice than to get our Finnish battered man back to full condition before Germany ."
The asphalt ADAC Rally Deutschland takes place from August 21 to 28 on traditional sections in the Moselle vineyards and in the Baumholder military area.
Source: Martin Prokop
