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

IRC Rally San Remo

Rally Review: IRC Rally San Remo

by Martijn Kösters


The penultimate round of the final IRC season took place around the Italian city of San Remo. One man was absent: Andreas Mikkelsen, giving title rivals Jan Kopecký and Juho Hänninen a chance to gain some points on the reigning champion before the season final in Cyprus. Though they would get a run for their money as a strong field of Italian drivers was present. Amongst them former winner Giandomenico Basso and Italian Rally Champion Umberto Scandola. Prior to this round Andreas Mikkelsen lead the championship by 43 points over Juho Hänninen and 53 over Jan Kopecký. With only 75 points left in the championship a good result was crucial for both Skoda drivers.

The Rally San Remo uses an interesting format, a total of ten stages is driven within a 24-hour time window, making any mistakes even more costly. This also means drivers have to be careful with their machines, as service opportunities are rare.

Giandomenico Basso was fast in the opening stage, taking the lead by a good 4 seconds over Andreucci, Kopecký and Perico. Stage two saw Jan Kopecký put in the fastest time and climb into second. Further Umberto Scandola had a terrible round of luck with a puncture and a spin, costing him five and a half minutes. He would retire after the stage. Basso increased his lead on stage three when Kopecký gave away seven seconds. Going into service Basso lead, 12.7 seconds ahead of Jan Kopecký, Andreucci in third, 14.2 seconds behind. Juho Hänninen was in fourth, only 14.4 seconds behind Basso.

A possible decider could be the 44 kilometer Ronde stage, driven on Friday night. Basso and Kopecký were superior on this stage and gaining over half a minute on the rest of the field. Though Basso was best of the best as he gained another twelve seconds on Kopecký. Paolo Andreucci took it easy, since his Italian title would only depend on him finishing. Interesting moment on the stage was Juho Hänninen's crash. He went straight of the road in a left hand corner, rolled his car and ended up on the roof of a shed, turning his Skoda into a wonderful roof ornament. Unfortunately for his championship, he had to retire.

Day two seemed more about everyone consolidating their positions. Giandomenico Basso increased his lead on Kopecký to 52 seconds over the first loop of the Saturday. Perico remained in third, Albertini 4^th, Andreucci 5^th. Craig Breen dropped some time after picking up a puncture on SS7, he is in a distant 6^th. Kopecký did try to launch an attack on Basso later on Saturday, taking the fastest time on SS8, SS9 and SS10. Unfortunately the gap was still 37.7 seconds going into the final stage.

Despite several drivers trying, the second loop on Saturday did not result in any position changes at the top of the table, Giandomenico Basso took his second Rally San Remo win with Jan Kopecký second, Perico third, Albertini 4^th, Andreucci 5^th. For the IRC this meant that Jan Kopecký moves into second at 103 points, 33 behind championship leader Andreas Mikkelsen. With double points awarded in Cyprus, second place for Kopecký and a retirement for Mikkelsen would be enough for the Czech.