Hard work ahead for Skoda

The factory ŠKODA Motorsport team will be hard at work this weekend when it enters Juho Hänninen and Jan Kopecký on separate rallies in Croatia and Czech Republic.

Former Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion Hänninen will contest the Croatia Rally in his Fabia Super 2000 with ŠKODA splitting its resources to field an entry on the Krumlov Rally in Czech Republic for Kopecký, who finished second on the most recent IRC round in Corsica.

Kopecký has claimed victory on the opening three rounds of the Czech championship this season and admits expectations are high for more success. He said: “We are ready to fight for the top ranks but there are no guarantees.”

This weekend will be the second time in 2012 that ŠKODA Motorsport has run two teams in two separate rallies. Back in April, Hänninen tackled Rally 1000 Miglia in Italy while Kopecký took part on Rally Šumava in his native Czech Republic.