Season
Jan Kopecký dropped out after an accident
The crew Jan Kopecký-Filip Schovánek has presented itself with an excellent performance, where it was able to achieve seven top ten times in the super special stages with the Škoda Fabia WRC car.
On top of that the Czech Rally Team Kopecký crew moved up from seventeenth place following the Friday's leg, where the Škoda Fabia WRC car suffered several incidental tire defects, to a running tenth position after Saturday's leg.
Before the start of Sunday's leg the Czech Rally Team Kopecký has reassessed the priority for the final three special stages and decided for an option that meant driving on the edge in an effort to get as close as possible to the eighth position, which means points.
Jan Kopecký started in the final leg of Rally Finland with a very promising split time in the initial special stage; unfortunately in an accident he afterwards damaged the car, which was not able to continue in the race.
"We started the Sunday's leg with intent to attack. Rally is very unpredictable and in the hard Rally Finland any crew in the top eight point receiving places could encounter a problem. This is why we wanted to come as close as possible to the eight place. Our optimism was supported by yesterday's times, where we were able to run times among the best.
On one of the horizons in the beginning of the twenty first special stage, we had an error in the track breakdown. In the introductory rides we did not expect that we could jump on this horizon. We came into a right handed turn over the track and I did not have control over the car. I instantly reacted, but we nonetheless fell into a deep ditch and hit a stack of logs with our car's front end.
I regret the withdrawal especially for all the members of the Czech Rally Team Kopecký, who in the preparation for the race, as well as in the service zones of Rally Finland, turned in a great performance," explained the driver Jan Kopecký the reason for the retirement from the point of the accident.
"After an unlucky Friday's leg we understandably felt joy from our excellent times yesterday. In Sunday's leg we decided to attack, because Jan and Filip showed us a truly fantastic run on Saturday.
This time our plan to risk did not work and we can evaluate only Saturday's leg as a success. Unfortunately our outing in Rally Finland was quite notably influenced by Friday's tire defects, which caused Jan and Filip to have to fight their way from the back and drive on the edge of risk," the team manager Josef Kopecký briefly evaluated Rally Finland.
