Rally France/Tour de Corse: Private ŠKODA crews secure double victory in WRC 2 category
› Driving private ŠKODA FABIA R5’s, Fabio Andolfi and Nikolay Gryazin finished first and
second in WRC 2 category at the French round of the FIA World Rally Championship
› Works crew Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen had to retire in after an accident with their
privately entered ŠKODA FABIA R5
› ŠKODA Motorsport boss Michal Hrabánek: “Congratulations to Fabio Andolfi and Nikolay
Gryazin, both again demonstrated the competiveness of our ŠKODA FABIA R5.”
Mladá Boleslav, 31 March 2019 – Mixed emotions for ŠKODA Motorsport after the fourth
round of the 2019 FIA World Rally Championship, Rally France/Tour de Corse (28/03/–
31/03/2019). While ŠKODA works crew Kalle Rovanperä and co-driver Jonne Halttunen (FIN/
FIN), driving a privately entered ŠKODA FABIA R5, had to retire from leading the WRC 2 Pro
category after an accident, two private crews secured a double win for ŠKODA in the WRC 2
category. In the penultimate stage on Sunday, Nikolay Gryazin/Yaroslav Fedorov (RUS/RUS)
took the WRC 2 lead from Fabio Andolfi/Simone Scattolin (ITA/ITA). But during the final test,
the Italian crew fought back and secured the well deserved victory.
During the opening leg on Friday morning, ŠKODA factory driver Kalle Rovanperä struggled with
understeering in his privately entered ŠKODA FABIA R5. But the young Finn managed to complete
the first three stages with a faultless drive. His main rival in the WRC 2 Pro category, Lukasz
Pieniazek, collected a puncture during the first stage of the day. So despite his problems,
Rovanperä was already clearly leading the category. After the first three stages of the day, no
service was allowed. Nevertheless, Kalle Rovanperä and his co-driver Jonne Halttunen proved their
talent as skilful car mechanics and modified the setup of their ŠKODA FABIA R5. For the repetition
of the morning stages, their performance was improving and they defended the lead in the WRC 2
Pro category, at the same time moving up to ninth position among all R5 crews.
On Saturday, the Finnish pairing made even more progress. But during the longest test of the rally,
the more than 47 Kilometres long “Castagniccia” stage, they ran out of luck. “In the middle part of
the stage, there was some dirt on the road. We made a small mistake, went a little wide and hit a
rock. The car was not looking too bad, but at the service we discovered, that the roll cage was
damaged and could not be repaired. For safety reasons, we could not re-start the final day of the
rally,” Rovanperä explained.
Italian privateer Fabio Andolfi together with co-driver Simone Scattolin showed impressive speed as
well. Having finished last year in third WRC 2 position at Rally France, this time they were among
the frontrunners right from the start. But towards the end of the rally, they came more and more
under pressure from European U28 Champions Nikolay Gryazin/Yaroslav Fedorov. Driving another
privately entered ŠKODA FABIA R5, the two Russians, despite lack of experience with the Corsican
roads, set a fabulous fastest time during the penultimate special stage and moved into the interim
lead. But during the very last stage, Fabio Andolfi/Simone Scattolin fought back and finally achieved
their first WRC 2 category win.
“Kalle and Jonne did not manage to adapt their speed properly regarding the fact that they were the
very first time in Corsica, which is one of the most difficult tarmac rallies in the world.
Congratulations to Fabio Andolfi and Nikolay Gryazin for their great performance. Both again
demonstrated the competiveness of our ŠKODA FABIA R5 and secured a double win in the WRC 2
category for ŠKODA,” emphasized ŠKODA Motorsport boss Michal Hrabánek.
Final Results Rally France/Tour de Corse (WRC 2)
1. Andolfi/Scattolin (ITA/ITA), ŠKODA FABIA R5, 3:34:08.6 h
2. Gryazin/Fedorov (RUS/RUS), ŠKODA FABIA R5, +3.9 sec.
3. Kajetanovicz/Szcepaniak (POL/POL), VW Polo GTI R5, +2:53.3 min.
4. Katsuta/Barrit (JPN/GBR), Ford Fiesta R5, +3:51.9 min.
5. Yates/Morgan (GBR/GBR), ŠKODA FABIA R5, +3:58.5 min.
Current championship standings WRC 2 Pro/Drivers (after four of 14 rounds)
1. Lukasz Pieniazek (POL), Ford, 62 points
2. Gus Greensmith (GBR), Ford, 40 points
3. Kalle Rovanperä (FIN), ŠKODA, 36 points
4. Mads Østberg (NOR), Citroën, 25 points
Current championship standings WRC 2 Pro/Manufacturers (after four of 14 rounds)
1. Ford, 102 points
2. ŠKODA, 36 points
3. Citroën, 25 points
Number of the day: 5
With five crews driving a ŠKODA FABIA R5 into the top ten of the WRC 2 category, the Czech
brand was the most successful at Rally France/Tour de Corse.
The calendar of the 2019 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC 2 Pro)
Event Date
Monte-Carlo 24/01/–27/01/2019
Sweden 14/02/–17/02/2019
Mexico 07/03/–10/03/2019
France 28/03/–31/03/2019
Argentina 25/04/–28/04/2019
Chile 09/05/–12/05/2019
Portugal 30/05/–02/06/2019
Italy 13/06/–16/06/2019
Finland 01/08/–04/08/2019
Germany 22/08/–25/08/2019
Turkey 12/09/–15/09/2019
Great Britain 03/10/–06/10/2019
Spain 24/10/–27/10/2019
