Season
Kopecký defends title near Mladá Boleslav 14 - 16.7.06
FIA European Cup, Mitropa Rallye Cup, Czech Republic International Championship, Super Race
Rally Bohemia, Mladá Boleslav
Sunday, 16 July 2006
Jan Kopecký and Filip Schovánek in their Škoda Fabia WRC defended their victories from 2004 and 2005
Jan Kopecký and Filip Schovánek, the crew of the Czech Rally Team Škoda-Kopecký, gave a collected and composed performance in their Škoda Fabia WRC as they defended their victories on the Rally Bohemia tracks from the past two years. This year a special race, labelled the 'Super Race', was held for WRC, A8 and A7 VK cars. The crews in this competition followed the Rally Bohemia routes.
During Friday's super-stage and the Saturday leg, there was no one to equal or better Jan Kopecký in the stages.
The crew of the Czech Rally Team Škoda-Kopecký entered Sunday's leg with a head start of more than a minute, which was enough to see them through the final four stages. This head start gave the team room to try out other settings for the vehicle on Sunday, and as the lead crew they could take things easy. On Sunday, Jan Kopecký won two stages and came second in the other two.
As in the previous two years, Jan Kopecký and Filip Schovánek climbed on the winners' rostrum in from the Customer Centre of Škoda Auto a.s., which is the main partner of Rally Bohemia and, in particular, Czech Rally Team Škoda-Kopecký.
From the point of view of the Czech Rally Team Škoda-Kopecký, the Super Race fully came up to the expectations of the team. One of the priorities was to try out several variants of the settings for the upcoming German rally, which is part of the World Rally Championship.
'In my view, the Rally Bohemia was a success. We managed to defend our title from the previous two competitions and we had enough room to try out various vehicle settings and make minor technical adjustments to the special competition car.
During Sunday's leg, we tried to lessen the risk of a defect, but even so we still out in some good times. The Škoda Fabia WRC, like the whole team, was faultless.
I am grateful to Škoda Auto a.s. for letting us make this start with the Škoda Fabia WRC in the Czech Republic in exceptional circumstances, and by taking part we were able to thank our fans for their support in the world championship. Filip and I are acutely aware of their support and we are really looking forward to the start of the German Rally, which is geographically the closest event in the world series for Czech fans,' said Jan Kopecký after winning the Super Race.
