Rally Catalunya 2005: Skoda Motorsport
The Catalunya Rally saw Skoda Motorsport World Rally Team drivers Jan Kopecky and Armin Schwarz bring the Fabia WRC 05 home in points scoring positions.
For Jan it was the first WRC drivers point of his career but as he was not registered for manufacturers` points it was only Armin who added to the team`s 2005 total. Alex Bengue was denied a likely points finish for both drivers and manufacturers by a rare gearbox failure during yesterday`s second leg.

On today`s three stages, Jan elected for a cautious approach to ensure that he made the finish but he again showed his increasing confidence with sixth fastest time on the second stage to consolidate eighth place from a charging Chris Atkinson and to finish three positions ahead of his team mate.

Jan Kopecký
“This morning was not a time to take unnecessary risks. I had proved that I had the speed when the conditions were right but there was so little visibility at times that I decided that eighth place was better than going off the road trying to catch Antony Warmbold.”

Armin Schwarz
“The first stage today was incredible. There was really thick fog that seemed to come over the stage like a curtain. One minute it was there and the next it was completely gone. You never knew what was around the next corner!”

Martin Muehlmeier, Head of Škoda Motorsport
“This was a strong performance by Jan who did exactly what we asked from him. Armin also got the car to the finish in the points but I am sorry that Alex was unable to join him because of a rare technical problem.”

The World Rally Championship makes a final long-haul journey to Australia (November 10-13) where the Škoda Motorsport World Rally Team will be represented by Armin Schwarz and Colin McRae.


Tags: catalunya, skoda, costa-daurada, spain, kopecky,