Prokop gets no joy from Mexico win

Martin Prokop says he gained zero satisfaction from claiming maximum points in the Super 2000 World Rally Championship section of Rally Guanajuato Mexico last Sunday.

Prokop finished second on the road to Nasser Al-Attiyah but inherited victory after Al-Attiyah and co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini were excluded when their Ford Fiesta S2000 failed post-event scrutineering.

The Czech, who becomes the seventh different driver to win a round of the SWRC since its inception in 2010, said: “Although I will think to these points later in the season, at the moment I am thinking I was only in second place. I feel very bad for Nasser because [the technical infringement] did not change anything about his speed and for me [exclusion] was not the best solution.”

After rectifying a few set-up issues that hampered his speed on Friday, Prokop said he was happy with his performance at the wheel of his Czech Ford National Team Fiesta. “To finish in the points is always good for the championship. I wasn’t happy after Friday but we improved the car for the second day and I think my speed was quite okay. Nasser was hard to catch but I stayed in front of Juho [Hanninen] and that was important.”

Prokop’s next appearance in the SWRC will be on Rally d’Italia Sardegna in May after the 28-year-old elected not to nominate the Jordan Rally as one of his seven scoring events.