Kopeckys parks title hope
Finally, a breakthrough. Notoriously secretive when it comes to information, Jan Kopecky’s third win of the season was enough to persuade the Czech star he’s worthy of a tilt at this year’s title.
That shot is hard-earned and well deserved – especially on the back of a three-minute win over his Skoda team-mate Ole Christian Veiby.
It was Veiby who made the most of the early running, topping the timesheets until the second run through Tula. The Norwegian damaged the frontright suspension aboard his Fabia R5, dropping him down the order. Worse was to come – he had to disconnect the driveshaft from the front-right wheel to keep what became a three-wheel drive Fabia R5 rolling. Predictably, the time loss was huge and first became eighth.
He battled back to the runnerup spot – his fine driving was helped by a variety of issues for his rivals – but nobody cared at Skoda. The Czech squad departed the season’s toughest and roughest roads with a 1-2.
Kopecky was over the moon.
“We had one moment in the ruts,” he said. “We nearly rolled, but we got away with it and the weekend was OK. Friday was a difficult, difficult day, we had to make some work on the set-up for Saturday, but then the car really worked.
“This result is fantastic for me and I’m very pleased to say the team will give me the same number of rallies [in WRC2] as Pontus [Tidemand, Skoda team-mate], so we can fight for the championship.”
In the more immediate, Kopecky had been expecting a fight with Stephane Lefebvre’s Citroen C3 R5.
When Veiby slipped up, it was the Frenchman who made the most of his rival’s misfortune.
That news, the story coming out of Versailles between rounds six and seven – you might have heard about it – would have been of significant interest to Lefebvre. Citroen’s junior driver is, for many, a shoo-in solution to replace Kris Meeke for the remainder of the season.
What he needed most in Sardinia was a strong result and a maiden WRC2 win for his employer’s C3 R5 would provide a compelling case for his return to the World Rally Car.
Unfortunately, hopes of success went south when he retired from the WRC2 lead with suspension damage in Monti di Ala. Privateer Nicolas Ciamin offered some reason for French cheer by placing his C3 R5 on the podium’s bottom step.
WRC3 success went to Ford Fiesta R2T driver Jean-baptiste Franceschi who collected a twominute win over Taisko Lario’s Peugeot. Third in class went to Briton Louise Cook, whose 208 crossed the ramp 26 minutes down on the winner.
Franceschi had driven a masterful event through conditions which, as he pointed out, tested the strength of a World Rally Car, let alone his two-wheel drive Fiesta. Having spent two days avoiding the deepest puddles and the biggest rocks, he almost came unstuck on the final morning when he damaged the steering with two stages to go.
“It was really hard to manage this,” he said, “but we got there. We got to the finish and I’m so happy – now I can’t wait to go to the next JWRC round, where we will discover Rally Finland.”