Kopecky makes it two from three!

Jan Kopecky today made it two wins from three ERC 2013 appearances onboard his Skoda Fabia S2000, by winning the Rally Islas Canarias after early leader Robert Kubica's late exit.

Kopecky on his way to his second win of the year

Kubica, making his ERC début in a Citroen DS3 RRC, lead from SS1 and dominated the rally, winning all of Friday's eight stages, up until SS10. He was caught out by a downhill right-hander, 5kms from the end of the stage, hitting a barrier with the back of the car, which sent the front of the car into the barrier and the Pole out of the rally.

“It was a shame but unfortunately we were in a high-speed downhill section. It was a quite fast corner but easy flat out. It was not very heavy braking but quite big braking into a third-gear corner. Unfortunately when I hit the brakes I lost the rear of the car and I had to reduce the pressure otherwise I would spin and the road was very narrow. Then I just didn’t manage.”

“I was completely sideways before the corner. Not completely but quite a lot of sideways. I tried to do the corner but I hit the barrier. I didn’t reduce enough speed but I hit the barrier with the rear-left corner. Then with the front we dived into the barrier. It’s a shame but unfortunately this can happen.” he said.

However, the sheer speed in which he dominated the rally until his exit showed glimpses of Colin McRae's style, and Kubica was awarded the 'Colin McRae ERC Flat Out Trophy'.

“It’s a great pleasure for me to win this award. Of course Colin was a great driver and I have been supporting him when I was young. Normally winners are only at the finish but this trophy gives us a bit of satisfaction after this hard end and Colin is always in our hearts.” he added.

With the Czech driver elevated to first overall, Irishman Craig Breen took over second place in his Peugeot Rally Academy 207 S2000. Breen was 1 min 52.4 secs behind Kopecky at the end, his 10 sec penalty for leaving service late (Breen had to run back and collect his glasses after forgetting them, clocking into the time control one minute late as a result) made little difference to to the end result.

He said: “Of course we’re very happy. We came to the finish of the rally in second place and gained some very good experience of the roads in the Canaries and everybody has worked well this weekend. It was a very difficult rally for us for the first time to come here with no experience of the roads. It was difficult at the beginning but now we have good pacenotes to come back in future years.”

Luis Monzon took third place in his MINI John Cooper Works RRC, 3 mins 20 secs off Kopecky's pace. He hailed his result as a “dream come true”. Andreas Aigner was 3 mins 31.9 secs off Monzon and the final podium place, driving a Subaru Impreza R4.

Germain Bonnefis was the highest placed 2WD car, taking his Renault Megane to fifth place. Sixth went to Gorka Antxustegi's Suzuki Swift, who beat the S2000's of János Puskádi (seventh) and Jean-Mathieu Leandri (eighth). Ninth and tenth went to Robert Consani and Antonin Tlustak, respectively. Zoltán Bessenyey took ERC 2WD honours in his Honda Civic Type R.

Photo Credit: FIA ERC