- Before season 2006

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The Czech Rally Team Škoda-Kopecký in the run-up to the opening race

Before the first race in the 2006 World Rally Championship, the new Czech Rally Team Škoda-Kopecký introduced itself to the rallying public in Bělá pod Bezdězem. The team hopes to follow up on past cooperation between Motorsport Kopecký and the Škoda Motorsport factory team, entering a Škoda Fabia WRC in ten selected 2006 WRC rallies on the European continent.

The Czech Rally Team Škoda-Kopecký is able to undertake this challenging programme of rallies on the global stage only because it can rely on the backing of Škoda Auto a.s. and other partners that the team will be striving to do proud in the upcoming season.

Initially the team will have only one crew, comprising Jan Kopecký and Filip Schovánek. This pair drove a Škoda Octavia WRC in the colours of the Škoda Matador team at the International Championship of the Czech Republic in 2003. In the next season, this time in a Škoda Fabia WRC, Jan Kopecký and Filip Schovánek became the Czech national champions. In the 2005 season, rather than defend their national title, the team decided to try and start chalking up experience in foreign competitions. Jan and Filip were entered as Škoda Motorsport’s third crew in rallies in Germany, France and Spain, where they won their first, highly valuable WRC point.

The new team’s top priority is to foster conditions for the young Czech crew to continue its trajectory of up-and-coming development. Every start in a challenging world-class rally is a source of priceless experience that the crew needs to gain if it is to progress. This year Jan and Filip will also be entering their WRC car in off-road races, an area in which they currently have little experience. The plan is not just to garner experience, but also to make gradual improvements in speed and clock competitive times.

‘Of course, I’d like to thank all the partners who have made it possible for us to take on this challenging programme, especially Škoda Auto and Matador, who have played the largest role in the formation of the new team. We are pleased to have this opportunity of entering ten world-class rallies with our own team. In the run-up to the Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo there hasn’t been much time to get ready, and the preparatory period has placed huge demands on the whole team. I’m pleased that such an acknowledged expert as Pavel Turek, well-known from Formula 1, has joined forces with us as he will be a major boost for the team’s publicity. We will start the season with just the one crew, but we have the technical and logistic capacity in place for a second crew,’ says Josef Kopecký, manager of the Czech Rally Team Škoda-Kopecký.

‘As you would expect, I’m really excited about the prospect of racing in WRC rallies in a Škoda Fabia WRC. This is a dream come true for me, and in all the races I will do my best to pick up as much experience as possible for future rallies. In those rallies where Filip and I have already competed in the past, we will try to make it round the course in competitive times. We would like to finish in positions where we can pick up points for the drivers’ classification, but this year the competition will be really tough. We are looking forward to the Monte Carlo rally because of its legendary status and because it’s a very challenging race characterized by changeable conditions. We have done a lot of work preparing for this rally and I am confident that we are all set to go,’ adds Jan Kopecký.

         

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