Rally Italia Sardegna: Double victory at WRC 2 Pro category by Kalle Rovanperä and Jan Kopecký

› Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen and Jan Kopecký/Pavel Dresler gave ŠKODA Motorsport
the second double victory of the 2019 WRC 2 Pro season
› At Rally Italia Sardegna, eighth round of the 2019 FIA World Rally Championship, the new
ŠKODA FABIA R5 evo again proved speed and reliability
› ŠKODA Motorsport now on top of the manufacturer’s standings of the WRC 2 Pro
championship while Kalle Rovanperä is leads the driver’s classification
› ŠKODA Motorsport boss Michal Hrabánek: “I am proud and happy about the great
teamwork of our crews bringing home this result and making us lead the championship.”

Alghero, 16 June 2019 – Time to celebrate on the podium in the beautiful harbour of
Alghero: Driving two ŠKODA FABIA R5 evo, Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen (FIN/FIN) and
teammates Jan Kopecký/Pavel Dresler (CZE/CZE) scored a one-two in the WRC 2 Pro
category at Rally Italia Sardegna, eighth round of the FIA World Rally Championship. Also
on the four final stages of Sunday, the works teams delivered a tactically faultless
performance and gave ŠKODA Motorsport the second double victory of the 2019 WRC 2 Pro
season. Rovanperä even achieved a hat trick win on Sardinia after his recent wins in Chile
and Portugal.


The last day of Rally Italia Sardegna brought the final decision on two stages at the coast north of
the host town of Alghero, both had to be run twice. Although the landscape at the Sardinian
coastline was simply breath-taking, both ŠKODA works crews wasted no time with any sightseeing.
As they were leading the WRC 2 Pro category and also heading the field of the 37 entered R5 cars
with a comfortable margin, it was all about finding the right speed in order to be on the safe side
and not to lose concentration. And so the crews Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen and Jan
Kopecký/Pavel Dresler did.


“This is one of the hardest events that I have done. There were really good things we learnt about
our driving, our pace notes and also about the car. Thanks to the team – great job,” said Rovanperä
at the finish line of the last special stage. Kopecký added: “It’s really great – congratulations to the
team, because they again prepared a really perfect car.”


ŠKODA Motorsport boss Michal Hrabánek said: “I am proud and happy about the great teamwork
of our crews bringing this result home and making us lead the championship. We are delighted that
our new ŠKODA FABIA R5 evo worked like a Swiss watch again. I would like to personally thank
everybody at ŠKODA and ŠKODA Motorsport who made this success happen.”


In the WRC 2 category for private teams, French ŠKODA privateers Pierre-Louis Loubet and
Vincent Landais had lost the category lead on the last stage of Saturday when they suffered a
puncture. But they fought back to the lead and won the category like at the previous Rally Portugal
ahead of Kajetan Kajetanovicz/Maciej Szepaniak, who drove their first rally with a ŠKODA FABIA
R5. At the end, the top four positions among the initially 37 R5 cars, which had started the rally,
were conquered by ŠKODA crews.

Final Result Rally Italia Sardegna (WRC 2 Pro)


1. Rovanperä/Halttunen (FIN/FIN), ŠKODA FABIA R5 evo, 3:40:51.8 h
2. Kopecký/Dresler (CZE/CZE), ŠKODA FABIA R5 evo, +24.6 sec.
3. Østberg/Eriksen (NOR/NOR), Citroën C3 R5, +8:58.6 min.
4. Greensmith/Edmondson (GBR/GBR), Ford Fiesta R5, +1:17:11.0 h.
Current championship standings WRC 2 Pro/Drivers (after eight of 14 rounds)
1. Kalle Rovanperä (FIN), ŠKODA, 111 points
2. Mads Østberg (NOR), Citroën, 98 points
3. Gus Greensmith (GBR), Ford, 85 points
4. Lukasz Pieniazek (POL), Ford, 74 points
5. Jan Kopecký (CZE), ŠKODA, 36 points

Current championship standings WRC 2 Pro/Manufacturers (after eight of 14 rounds)
1. ŠKODA and Ford, each 159 points
3. Citroën, 98 points

Number of the day: 2
Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen (FIN/FIN) and Jan Kopecký/Pavel Dresler (CZE/CZE) scored the
second double victory of the 2019 WRC 2 Pro season for ŠKODA Motorsport.


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
Australia 14/11/–17/11/2019

Catherine Van Geel

PR Manager, D'Ieteren NV

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