Kubica flies, Kopecky scores

Kubica flies, Kopecký scores
by Martijn Kösters


Not just any odd comeback from Kubica, he came back with style, quite some style. Winning a tourist trophy is another thing than winning in the ERC I said before, apparently Robert didn't get that message.

Although sunny weather is what you would expect from the Canary Islands, the rally was off to a wet start with rainon SS1 and foggy conditions on the second stage. Kubica wasn't halted by these conditions, with Breen "as blind as a bat" on stage two after forgetting his glasses. No major drama in the early stages of the rally, but Kubica lead by 37 seconds after just 45 kilometers of stages aided by the soft compound tyres whilst others drove on hard ones. After the first leg of three stages it was Kubica, Kopecky, Breen, Monzon and Ancian in the top 5.

Kubica continued his streak of best stage times on the next trio of stages, building on his lead continuously. Conditions did improve, but full attack was not an ideal option on damp stages. Behind the pole, Craig Breen challenged Kopecky by cutting his lead to 10.3s after stage 5. Luis Monzon dropped over 40 seconds to Jeremi Ancian on stage 5 after a puncture struck the Spaniard, handing over fourth place as a result.

The final two stages also went to Kubica, completing a clean sweep on friday of 8 stage bests. Behind him Kopecky felt the need to respond to Craig Breen's charge. Though not without risk: "We had a big moment on a long left-hander when we were braking too late and sliding 40 metres completely off the line". At the end of dayone Kubica lead Kopecky by 1m06. Breen in third 44 seconds behind the Czech. Ancian and Monzon in fourth and fifth well clear of eachother. Aigner lead production class in p6 overall.

A sign of change on day two, with Kubica not winning the first stage of the day. Kopecky gained 1.1 second on the rally leader, and was still unlikely to win the rally. Major drama arose on the following stage, when Kubica had a big shunt and terminally damaged his suspension. He was out, and Kopecky lead. Ancian was also forced to retire, running out of spare tyres and barely making the stage finish meant he couldn't continue. After ss10/14 it was Kopecky leading Breen by 1m17, with Monzon a further 1,5 minute back in 3rd. Andreas Aigner, Bonnefis and Leandri made up the top six, with Antxustegi and Robert Consani lurking at Leandri's sixth place.

Final loop of the rally saw people consolidating their podium spots at the front. Consani dropped time after a puncture on ss12 was out of the battle for sixth place, though was promoted up to seventh when Leandri ran into trouble on the penultimate stage. That joy was shortlived however, as another puncture cost him 7th and even 8th place. 

Final result saw Kopecky taking the win, comfortably ahead of Breen. Local hero Luis Monzon must have been joyed with a podium spot in third. Aigner, Bonnefis and Antxustegi made 4th 5th and 6th whilst Puskadi and Leandri completed the top 8. Kopecky leads Breen in the championship by 18 points.

ERC Preview: Stars touch down on the Canary Islands, not just for sunlight

ERC Preview: Stars touch down on the Canary Islands, not just for sunlight
by Martijn Kösters
As star studded the European Rally Championship opener was in Austria, as bleak its field was in the following Ventspils Rally in Latvia. Given, Jari Ketomaa, Craig Breen and Francois Delecour were interesting headliners in the Baltic but it did not match the likes of Kopecký, Hänninen and even Blomqvist in Austria.

Back to current times, and we have Kopecký, Breen and Oliviera on our entry list. Add to this Robert Kubica in a brand-new Citroën DS3, János Puskadi driving a Fabia S2000, Jean Leandri driving for the returning Sainteloc team, Luis Monzon in a MINI, Jeremi Ancian with backing from the Peugeot Rally Academy and we get a quite interesting fight for the points.

The rally in total encompasses a hefty 246km of timed stages packed into less than 30 hours, which means any mistake will have very costly repercussions and consistency is absolutely vital. Action starts early on the Friday with eight stages spread around the clock from before eight in the morning to half past six in the early evening with stages reaching from between 13 to 26 kilometres. Note the one hour time difference with Central Europe. Two runs of the Moya, Artenara and Tejeda stages in the morning and early afternoon with Aguimes (26km) and Ingenio completing day one in the late afternoon. After both three-stage loops there is a service of 30 minutes. Day two consists of two runs on the trio of Maspalomas, San Bartolome and Vallesco stages. As stages are equal last-minute attacks are to be expected when differences stay close at the front.

Now who to tip for the win? Kopecký has won twice in three attempts at the Canarias so far, but only just held off Bouffier in Austria in his ageing Peugeot 207. The Canary Islands being far from wintery Austria and conditions likely to be more equal this weekend, it is time for the Czech to show he's up for the job.

Yet that is exactly what Craig Breen will be thinking too. With less experience he may be, but he has certainly got the pace. Outscoring Francois Delecour in similar Peugeot material must have given him a boost, but missing out the win also would have made him more eager to go for glory. Will he keep it together?

Then there are the outsiders, Robert Kubica, Daniel Oliviera, Local Luis Monzon, Janos Puskadi, Jeremi Ancian. They all make their debut in the new-style European Rally Championship, and some of them showed great things before. Who knows what happens if either Breen or Kopecký get into trouble?

Rally Islas Canarias starts Friday morning, coverage on twitter.com/RallyandCross

Rally Review: IRC Cyprus and 2012 season

First of all, we apologise for the lack of content in the past few weeks. But since we are not full-time journalists we do tend to have issues with studying and computers letting you down. Nevertheless we have another Rally Review.

Rally Review: IRC Cyprus and 2012 season

by Martijn Kösters

The Intercontinental Rally Challenge finished off the 2012 season in Cyprus, same like last year. The tricky combination of tarmac and gravel would put a strain on both cars and drivers, as road conditions change frequently. Not only was the 2012 season put to bed, so was the series as the IRC ceases to exist and Eurosport events will organize the European Rally Championship from January next year.

With the championship still open, a good fight for the title would be welcome. Yet the entry sheets revealed that number two in the championship, Jan Kopecký, would not be present in Cyprus. Same for number 3 Juho Hänninen. However defending Champion Andreas Mikkelsen did enter the event, as did Sepp Wiegand and former Dakar-winner Nasser Al-Attiyah.

Rally Cyprus started on Friday with a short special, which provided plenty of action for the great number of spectators, but no surprises. Real Rally action was provided throughout Saturday, as Andreas Mikkelsen was mainly to fight his car. On the first stage of the day he had to change a wheel, throwing him almost two minutes behind leader Al-Attiyah. Al-Attiyah showed speed, matching Mikkelsen's times closely throughout the whole day. As Sepp Wiegand made a mistake and Jarkko Nikara had a puncture, Mikkelsen was back in P2 after the first loop, still 1m33 behind Al-Attiyah who suffered a broken drive shaft and alternator issues. Lucky for him this happened on the last stage before service.

Saturday afternoon saw consolidation in the top-4, with Mikkelsen closing slowly on Al-Attiyah. And with Wiegand and Nikara unable to match their pace. Apart from Saturday's last stage in which Wiegand retired with broken steering, Nikara found himself swapping wheels on stage and Mikkelsen nursed a punctured tyre to the finish line. Toshihiro Arai profited by taking 3^rd place, all be it seven minutes behind the leader.

Nasser Al-Attiyah started Sunday with a lead of 1 minute and thirty seconds, a comfortable lead with 6 stages to go. However Mikkelsen closed the gap to 57.8 seconds after stage 9, and 49 seconds after the first loop. Al-Attiyah must have felt more than just the Cypriotic heat. However the IRC was robbed of a great finale when Mikkelsen suffered another puncture on Stage 11. This not being Formula One, Mikkelsen took 2 minutes to change his flat tyre. After this Mikkelsen no longer pushed, and even let his Co-driver Ola Floene experience the power of the Skoda Fabia on their last stage as a team.

Al-Attiyah won the rally, which also counted for the Middle-Eastern Rally Championship. Mikkelsen as said 2^nd but with a championship and Toshihiro Arai finished the year on a high with a podium.


The end of the season kind of reflected the 2012 season as a whole, often dominated by a lack of entries Mikkelsen tried to put up a good show or at least score a good result, accompanied by another driver who could match him. For spectators something simple as a puncture for one driver can take the excitement out of an event, as Al-Attiyah and Mikkelsen were in a league of their own. Unfortunately the 2012 IRC did not bring up any new great talents like Kris Meeke, Thierry Neuville and Andreas Mikkelsen in previous years. Sepp Wiegand never really impressed despite having equal material to Mikkelsen and Herman Gassner Jr. left the IRC after the french round of the championship.

But to end on a positive note, there is a “new” championship coming up, with new events, new and more drivers. Mark the first weekend of 2013, as the Jannerrallye kicks of the ERC.