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Asphalt Rallies Brought Both Joy and Frustration
The FIA World Rally Championship continued with events in Croatia and the Canary Islands.
The World Rally Championship moved to asphalt tracks in April. However, the Croatia Rally, which returned to the calendar after a one-year hiatus, really put the participants through the wringer with its surface this year. "There were more and larger rocks on the course than in some gravel rallies," reported Andreas Mikkelsen, who competed in a Fabia RS Rally2. Due to drivers cutting corners, a large amount of debris ended up on the road, leading to punctures. Andreas Mikkelsen and his co-driver Jørn Listerud lost more than six minutes over three special stages and finished eleventh in the WRC2 category. The Italians Roberto Daprà and Luca Guglielmetti had the best result in Croatia with a Škoda, finishing in sixth place.
Five crews scored points in the Canary Islands with Škoda cars
At the next asphalt event, the Canary Islands Rally held in late April, the French crew of Eric Camilli and Thibault De La Haye in particular redeemed themselves. Driving a Fabia RS Rally2 for the Eurosol Racing Team Hungary, they took third place in the WRC2 category. Right behind them came R. Daprà and L. Guglielmetti, who performed brilliantly on the artificial track at the football stadium in Las Palmas. "I started my career in so-called gymkhanas (a competition resembling a short technical slalom, ed.), and I still really like it," said R. Daprà. Thanks to this result, the Italians moved up to third place in the overall standings of the WRC2 category.
In the end, five crews driving Škoda cars scored points on the island of Gran Canaria. Victory in the WRC Masters Cup category for drivers over 50 went to the reigning champions of that category, Miguel Granados of Mexico and his Spanish co-driver Marc Martí.
By the time this issue of Škoda Mobil is published, the next event — the gravel-surface Rally de Portugal — will already be underway, taking place from 7 to 10 May.
The Rally Sierra Morena took the crews to the historic Andalusian city of Córdoba.
The European competition kicked off in Andalusia
A total of 18 crews driving Škoda cars battled for points in the opening round of the FIA European Rally Championship — the April event in Andalusia, Spain. On the asphalt roads of the Sierra Morena region, six crews driving Škoda cars finished in the top ten. The podium was dominated by local driver José Antonio Suárez and his co-driver Alberto Pino Iglesias. The third edition of the Škoda Motorsport Bonus Programme also kicked off, in which participating teams can earn vouchers for spare parts for podium finishes and, at the end of the season, a discount on a new car. Their next opportunity will be 22–24 May at the Royal Rally of Scandinavia in Sweden.
Domestic Championship
The Czech Republic Championship kicked off with the Šumava Klatovy Rally, featuring five dealer teams in Fabia RS Rally2 cars. Second place went to Jan Kopecký and Jiří Hovorka representing the Agrotec Škoda Rally Team. Third place went to Dominik Stříteský and his co-driver Ondřej Krajča, who drive for the Auto Podbabská Škoda Team. The championship continues 22–23 May with the Český Krumlov Rally.
21
That many teams with a total of 32 drivers have registered for this year's ERC Bonus Program Škoda Motorsport.