Jan Kopecký took time out of his Intercontinental Rally Challenge title bid by contesting the opening round of the Czech International Rally Championship last weekend – and promptly won by a margin of 32 seconds.
Driving a Škoda Motorsport Fabia Super 2000 in retro livery as part of the company’s 110th anniversary of motorsport participation, Kopecký and co-driver Petr Starý beat Roman Kresta, in a privateer Fabia, and Pavel Valoušek, who finished third overall on Barum Czech Rally Zlín last season, and has switched to a Peugeot 207 Super 2000 for 2011.
After successfully completing the Wallachia Rally’s 10 special stages, which covered a competitive distance of 152 kilometres, Kopecký said: “I wish to thank the whole team for preparing the car excellently for the pre-race test in Wallachia and then for the entire race - everything worked absolutely perfectly. For both me and Petr, this victory is the best possible motivation for the races to come this year.”
Of his Fabia’s retro design, a throwback to the colour scheme used by Škoda in the 1970s, Kopecký said: “Personally, I like the car’s design very much and I think that it has been a great way of making our appearance here even more attractive.”