RallyRACC Catalunya: Rovanperä and Kopecký targeting WRC 2 Pro manufacturers’ title for ŠKODA
› At the one but last round of the FIA World Rally Championship 2019 in Spain, ŠKODA
Motorsport can prematurely win the WRC 2 Pro manufacturers’ title
› ŠKODA factory crew Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen (ŠKODA FABIA R5 evo)
prematurely won the drivers’ and co-drivers’ titles of the WRC 2 Pro Championship*
› ŠKODA FABIA R5 evo works crew Jan Kopecký/Jan Hloušek aiming for championship
points on the gravel and tarmac stages of Catalonia
Mladá Boleslav, 22 October 2019 – ŠKODA FABIA R5 evo crew Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne
Halttunen (FIN/FIN) prematurely celebrated the WRC 2 Pro drivers’ and co-drivers’ titles* at
the recent Wales Rally GB. Together with their teammates Jan Kopecký (CZE) and co-driver
Jan Hloušek (CZE), also driving a ŠKODA FABIA R5 evo at the upcoming RallyRACC
Catalunya-Rally de España (24/10/–27/10/2019), the two Finns want to secure the WRC 2 Pro
manufacturers’ title of the FIA World Rally Championship 2019 as well.
Surrounded by the team of ŠKODA Motorsport on the podium of the recent Wales Rally GB, newly
crowned WRC 2 Pro World Champion* Kalle Rovanperä expressed a clear goal: “Let’s bring the
manufacturers’ title to Mladá Boleslav as well.” The signs are bright and clear. Last year in Spain,
Rovanperä together with co-driver Jonne Halttunen scored WRC 2 victory, while teammate
Jan Kopecký secured a category double win for ŠKODA Motorsport, at the same time becoming
WRC 2 Drivers’ Champion.
This year, the task is crystal clear for both works crews. They want to secure prematurely the WRC
2 Pro manufacturers’ title of the FIA World Rally Championship 2019. ŠKODA Motorsport is leading
before Rally Spain the overall championship standings with 53 points from M-Sport Ford.
In the WRC 2 category for private teams, a fierce battle is expected between three ŠKODA crews:
championship leaders Pierre-Louis Loubet/Vincent Landais (FRA/FRA) and their pursuers Benito
Guerra/Daniel Cué (MEX/ESP) and Nikolay Gryazin/Yaroslav Fedorov (RUS/RUS). 12 ŠKODA
FABIA R5 evo and ŠKODA FABIA R5 among the 28 R5 cars on the entry list make ŠKODA again
the strongest brand of the category.
The RallyRACC Catalunya-Rally de España, so the full name of the thirteenth round of the FIA
World Rally Championship 2019, offers a special challenge for the crews. The Spanish WRC round
is the championship’s only mixed surface rally. The first leg on Friday (25 October) is held on gravel
roads with some tarmac sections. On Saturday and Sunday (25/26 October), all stages are entirely
run on asphalt. The teams have to face 17 special stages totalling 325.56 kilometres of racing
against the clock. The winner will reach the podium at the rally’s host town Salou in the south of
Catalonia’s capital Barcelona at 14h00 local time on Sunday (27 October).
*subject to the publication of the official results by the FIA
Did you know...
…that on Friday evening the service time is 1:15 hours and thus 30 minutes longer than usual,
allowing the teams to convert the cars from gravel into tarmac spec?
...that RallyRACC Catalunya-Rally de España was first run in 1957, became a round of the
European Rally Championship (ERC) in 1975 and in 1991 for the first time was part of the FIA
World Rally Championship (WRC)?
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
