The two-day competition (Belgian Ypres Rally was round six of the IRC) contained a total of 19 speed tests, six on Friday and 13 on Saturday, one of which was canceled due to problems with spectators. Competitors raced 280 rigorous kilometers altogether, Loix won a total of nine special stages, Kopecký triumphed in six. Škoda has further cemented its first position in the brand standings and Kopecký has strengthened his ambitions to second place in the driver standings. IRC leader Juho Hänninen withdrew from the Belgian competition after the fourth special stage, when he went off track and not even assistance from spectators helped get his almost undamaged car out of a deep ditch.
Michal Hrabánek appraises the Belgian rally: “A long and difficult race that ended in a wonderful success for Škoda, I would like to congratulate Škoda Belgium for a magnificent cooperation. I believe we have given Škoda more valuable publicity with the modernized Fabia. We have confirmed our first place in the championship brand standings, which is a motivation for us to keep on competing. Our next race will be the Azores Rally in mid-July. We will also appear for domestic fans at Rally Bohemia next weekend.”
Rally Bohemia will be the debut of the Škoda Fabia Super 2000 Facelift on Czech territory. The current IRC leader and last year’s Rally Bohemia winners Juho Hänninen and Mikko Markkula are on the Škoda Motorsport team. At the same time Jan Kopecký and Petr Starý will be starting at the San Marino Rally, fourth round of the Italian championship, where in the previous race in Salento they celebrated their first victory over top Italian drivers. Pavel Valoušek and Zdeněk Hrůza from the Škoda Delimax team will be driving another modernized Fabia Super 2000 near Mladá Boleslav at the fifth round of the International Championship Czech Republic, fighting with factory support to keep their first place in the Czech championship.
Freddy Loix: “I’m really happy. This is a great return to the IRC, I’d like to thank Škoda Belgium, my sponsors and special thanks go to Škoda Motorsport for a perfectly prepared car.”
Jan Kopecký: “Ypres is an exact race with very fast passages. This is a great result for us. We could hardly keep up with Freddy given his knowledge of the track and he deserves our congratulations. Škoda has another double, that’s great. Our whole team did a top-notch job once again.”
Juho Hänninen: “It was an unlucky race and a stupid mistake on my part. The car was perfectly prepared, it was better than me. I’ll have to try my best to recover everything at the next IRC race. Now I’m heading to Rally Bohemia, which with its profile will definitely be a more interesting competition and excellent preparation for future IRC races, especially the Barum Rally in Zlín in August."