IRC: Double for Skoda Motorsport at the Rally Russia

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IRC: Double for Skoda Motorsport at the Rally Russia | oneighturbo.com

Skoda Auto’s factory team Skoda Motorsport made up of two crews driving the Fabia S 2000 coped excellently with the challenging gravel track. Being faster than their opponent right from the start and winning all speed trials except one on Day 2 of the competition, Juho Hanninen with Mikko Markkula indeed put in an excellent performance.

Full gallery from he race after the jump

Furthermore, their team-mates Jan Kopecky with Petr Stary held the runner-up position from the start till the finish, too and came 1 minute and 20 seconds behind the winner. As a result, Skoda Motorsport celebrate their first victory in their fourth IRC appearance and a historic “double”.

“My Fabia was fantastic throughout the race, I wish to thank the whole team for the excellent job they’ve done here”, Hanninen said. “I felt right from the beginning that I was fast, but we had to be on the ball all the way, as the track was very stony, especially on Friday and Saturday. We enjoyed the race very much and once again – a big thank you goes to the entire team.”

Commenting on the brand’s achievement, Head of Skoda Motorsport Michal Hrabanek said: “We are all enormously happy, this is the best reward for the entire team, Skoda Auto and its partners involved in the Fabia Super 2000 project, big thanks to all of them. Obviously, this victory is a great impulse for further work and we are not going to rest on our laurels. Yet I believe that this milestone will boost the whole project and attract potential buyers of the Fabia Super 2000. I take my hat off to both our crews, selecting them for our team was apparently a good decision. We have known Jan Kopecky for a long time, he puts in stable performances and has improved a great deal. Juho Hanninen showed already in Monte Carlo this year in January that he could be pretty fast, too, and I am really glad that he’s shown now how good he really is. We have done a great job in terms of promoting the Skoda brand, and I daresay that this has not been our last achievement. The next event takes place in Zlín, Czech Republic, where we will logically be under pressure, but we all look forward to it.