The Skoda MRF team, starting with factory support, achieved a double in the second event of the Asia-Pacific Championship (APRC) despite the adverse conditions. European champions Jan Kopecký and Pavel Dresler took their first APRC triumph in exotic New Caledonia ahead of their teammates Gaurav Gill and Glenn Macneall . The two drivers thus swapped positions from the first race and share first place in the overall ranking after two out of six competitions, Skoda also leads in the brand ranking.
His teammate initially led, but then a skid took him off the track, where he damaged the car and lost valuable minutes. On the island in the South Pacific, which belongs to France, there were very demanding conditions, the rain turned most of the tracks into muddy tracks. For this reason, six of the originally planned 17 special stages were also cancelled.
Due to safety concerns, both drivers of the Skoda MRF team started the penultimate special stage late. For this, the jury awarded them a time penalty, which was reduced after the team's protest. Kopecký and Gill were able to celebrate their double with a delay of several hours. "With our skid, we fell victim to adverse external conditions during the first day of the competition. But in the end we made the most of it for the team," comments Gaurav Gill . The team's drivers achieved the best times in all eleven special stages that they drove.
Just like last year's New Caledonia Rally , six special stages had to be canceled this year due to heavy rain and impassable tracks. So only 11 of the 17 originally planned special stages were run. Special stages number five and eight were canceled on the first day, and only four of the planned eight special stages were run on the second day. The last stages of the competition were canceled completely.
