Kopecký: win makes up for Monte woe

Jan Kopecký says his victory on Rally Islas Canarias yesterday goes some way towards making up for the puncture that restricted him to fifth place on Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo in January.

Kopecký suffered a front-right deflation on the first stage of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge season-opener. As a recognised asphalt specialist, the Czech was expected to challenge for victory on the prestigious rally but lost more than three minutes due to the incident.

However, he hit back from that disappointment by winning in Gran Canaria yesterday, largely because of the puncture that cost runaway leader Kris Meeke victory. It was Kopecký’s first win of the 2010 IRC season and puts him equal second with Guy Wilks in the drivers’ standings, seven points behind Škoda Motorsport team-mate Juho Hänninen.

“For sure Kris was very unlucky with that puncture and I know it’s very frustrating for him but the same thing happened to us in Monte Carlo so I am happy to have won this rally,” said Kopecký.