Successful Monte Carlo Rally Premiere for Skoda Motorsport Team

The Skoda Motorsport factory team entered two Fabia Super 2000 racing cars in this season's first IRC event, beginning a new stage in Skoda’s Fabia Super 2000 project after nearly two years of development work. Driven by Finns Juho Hänninen and Mikko Markkula and Czechs Jan Kopecký and Petr Starý, respectively, the cars had to cope with challenging conditions including rough weather and have shown that the Skoda Fabia Super 2000 has developed a competitive racing car. The results and performances put in by both drivers, especially over the first two days of the event, are very positive and beneficial for further work on the Fabia Super 2000 project.

Finland's Juho Hänninen was first overall after the first day; Jan Kopecký, despite technical problems in the first stage, quickly fought his way up from the 24th place after that stage to finish tenth at the end of the day.

On Day 2 the event moved to snow-covered roads near Valence where both Skodas did well again, coming first in four stages of six altogether - Juho Hänninen three times and Jan Kopecký once. Moreover, when Jan finished second after his teammate in one of the stages, the team was applauded by fans for achieving a “double“. However, the Finn had back luck in the stage of the day, falling to the third place after one of his tyres received a puncture. Continuing his way up the field, Jan Kopecký finished seventh overall on Day 2.

The final day of the event brought the teams back to Monte Carlo. Although Juho Hänninen had to retire after an accident, he showed that his experience is a great asset for Skoda Motorsport and that he is a good choice for the Fabia Super 2000 vehicle and the entire team. His performance on Day 2, including three stage wins, drew massive attention from both fans and media. Continuing his catch-up mission, Jan Kopecký put in another good performance and finished fourth overall.

Commenting on the factory team's Monte Carlo Rally performance, Head of Skoda Motorsport Michal Hrabánek said: “In the first place, we are glad to have successfully completed this important stage of our vehicle development project and opened the door to a new one. The Fabia Super 2000 project is running on two complementary levels, racing and sales.

“We have certainly made a competitive car that is prepared to compete with the best in its class, and I also consider the team's performance at this year's Monte Carlo Rally good. I daresay we have shown our strength, but there's still a lot of work ahead of us and we have to work as hard and efficiently as we have been working so far and never lose respect for our competitors.

“I wish to thank all of the team members - the crews, mechanics, engineers and other people involved for excellent teamwork, and believe that this Monte Carlo premiere will motivate all of them to continue working hard. I also believe that we have done a great job in terms of promoting the Skoda brand. Our future rallying agenda will depend on detailed analysis of the Monte Carlo Rally performance, but our plan to take part in a further five events of the 2009 IRC series remains unchanged for the time being.”

Summarising the competition, Juho Hänninen said: “Everything was going my way until Friday morning. I was surprised how fast I was able to go - the technicians did an excellent job and the car was working perfectly. Our tyre choices were very good, too, mainly thanks to my “on-track spies”. I believe that the car's future results will be very good and that this event has shown its great potential. However, a lot of hard work is still ahead of us. I am sorry to have been too fast on Friday - I simply pushed it too hard as I wanted to make up for my one-minute loss. It's a pity, as the entire team has done a fantastic job here.”

Finishing fourth in the overall rankings and getting five points in the driver’s competition, Jan Kopecký was more than happy: “The Fabia Super 2000 has shown how fast it is, and it's apparent that the direction we have set is good. All the kilometres done in last year's tests are an important factor behind this success. I wish to thank the whole team and the Skoda company for helping us move this project ahead, as well as the Czech fans along the roads for supporting us loudly.“