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Nail-biting finale: Wiegand in second place at ŠKODA home race

31. 08. 2014

Kategorie: Motorsport

Zlín, 31 August 2014 – Sepp Wiegand/Frank Christian (D/D) finish second on the podium after a nail-biting finale, Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (FIN/FIN) defend their leading position in the championship: The ŠKODA team thrilled tens of thousands of fans at their home rally in the FIA European Rally Championship (ERC). As well as the works team's two Fabia Super 2000s sporting a red and white RS retro look, European champion Jan Kopecký (CZ) also delighted fans at the Barum Czech Rally Zlín. In the advance car, he successfully tested the turbo engine for the new ŠKODA Fabia R 5 on the 15 special stages of the rally.

"Congratulations to Sepp Wiegand and Frank Christian. With their strong performance at this rally, they consolidated their second place in the overall standings. It was a very difficult rally in which many of the favourites failed to make it to the end. That's why Esapekka Lappi was even able to strengthen his lead in the ERC overall standings," said ŠKODA motorsport director Michal Hrabánek.

Wiegand and his co-driver Frank Christian (D) finished in second place after a dramatic duel with Tomáš Kostka (CZ) on the final special stage. After a total of 237.33 kilometres of special stages, he was just 0.2 seconds ahead of his rival. Behind the winners Václav Pech/Petr Uhel (CZ/CZ), Wiegand was the best foreign driver amid the local top drivers. After second place in Northern Ireland and finishing third in Belgium, this was the third ERC podium spot of the season for 23-year-old Wiegand. The Barum Czech Rally Zlín was once again a good hunting ground for the man from Saxony: Last year he finished in fourth place on his debut in the ŠKODA works team.

"Naturally I'm delighted that we secured second place. The asphalt was slippery and muddy in places, particularly in the sections in the forest. We didn't take any unnecessary risks on Sunday to avoid throwing away the rally. The most important thing here was to pick up valuable championship points," said Wiegand.

In the overall standings of the ERC, the second-placed German has reduced his deficit to his leading team-mate Lappi to 19 points after eight of eleven races of the season. The two ŠKODA drivers even managed to extend their lead over their rivals in the fight to take over from last year's European champion Kopecký. Lappi has 123 points and is ahead of Wiegand (104).

Lappi, who didn't make it to the end of the day on Saturday after a mistake, and his co-driver Janne Ferm won three of the six special stages on Sunday and finished third in the day's standings. This saw him pick up five points for the ERC overall standings. "We successfully managed to limit the damage on Sunday. Many thanks to the ŠKODA team of mechanics who repaired our Fabia Super 2000 to make it as good as new," said Lappi.

The next test of the 1.6-litre turbo engine for the future ŠKODA Fabia R 5 also went without a hitch at the Barum rally. The test vehicle was driven by the continental champions Jan Kopecký/Pavel Dresler (CZ). "This time the priority wasn't to get the best times here, but to test the engine. It was fantastic to drive on the track in front of the tens of thousands of spectators," said Kopecký.

In the future ŠKODA will use the new rally car in the R5 category to participate in international rallies. ŠKODA motorsport director Michal Hrabánek sees the team is on the right path in the development of the source of hope for future success: "We also completed our second mission at the Barum rally: Testing our new vehicle. This saw us set another milestone."

The number of the Barum Czech Rally Zlín: 9

A ŠKODA Fabia Super 2000 was fastest on nine of a total of 15 special stages at the ERC rally in the Czech Republic. Jaromir Tarabus (CZ) set four best times, Esapekka Lappi (FIN) was the fastest driver three times, Roman Kresta (CZ) and Jaroslav Orsák (CZ) were fastest on one special stage each.

Barum Czech Rally Zlín – Final result

1. Pech/Uhel (CZ/CZ), Mini John Cooper Work S2000 2h 16m 28.7s
2. Wiegand/Christian (D/D), ŠKODA Fabia Super 2000 + 51.5s
3. Kostka/Houšť (CZ/CZ), Ford Fiesta R5 + 51.7s
4. Orsák/ Šmeidler (CZ/CZ), ŠKODA Fabia Super 2000 + 1m 12.8s
5. Tarabus/Trunkát (CZ/CZ), ŠKODA Fabia Super 2000 + 1m 13.6s

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