Rally Scotland: Latest news - Part 3

ŠKODA team back at full strength for Scotland

The factory ŠKODA Motorsport squad will be at full strength when the Intercontinental Rally Challenge resumes on RACMSA Rally of Scotland from 7-9 October.

In addition to team regular and IRC title leader Jan Kopecký, Juho Hänninen will also compete in one of the Czech firm’s Fabia Super 2000s on the gravel event, having skipped the last two IRC rounds in Hungary and Italy due to other commitments.

Although Hänninen, the defending IRC champion, can still take this year’s title providing he claims a strong result in Scotland, he has said his main focus is on helping team-mate Kopecký’s bid.

“We have the best memories of the Rally of Scotland and we would certainly love to repeat our result from last year,” said the 2010 winner. “But the main thing is to help the team.”

Team-mate Kopecký said: “Scotland is a big unknown for us because we have never competed there. It’s gravel, a surface on which we’ve only appeared once this season in the Azores but we will certainly drive as fast as possible to win as many points as possible.”

Andersson excited by gravel run in PROTON

PG Andersson says he can’t wait to drive on gravel again when he makes his RACMSA Rally of Scotland debut this week.

The Swede has contested six rounds of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge this season but only on asphalt. The Perth-based event marks his first outing in his PROTON Satria Neo Super 2000 on loose surfaces.

“It’s going to be nice to get the car onto gravel, this is the surface where I have more experience of competition,” said the 31-year-old Andersson. “We could see from the times which [my team-mate] Giandomenico [Basso] set in Rallye Sanremo last month that the car is getting better and better. And everybody in the PROTON Motorsports team is full of confidence after a very good result in Japan last weekend. I’m sure this will be a good event this week, everybody has talked so much about these stages – I’m really looking forward to getting going in them.”

Andersson is co-driven by fellow Swede Emil Axelsson.

Bouffier to capitalise on gravel knowledge

Bryan Bouffier will be looking to make the most of his experience of driving on gravel when he resumes his bid for Intercontinental Rally Challenge success on RACMSA Rally of Scotland from 7-9 October.

Bouffier combines his IRC campaign with Peugeot France with a programme in the Polish championship, which takes place on gravel events. He also shone on the IRC-counting gravel-based Cyprus Rally last November.

“I have experience of gravel but it’s not my speciality,” said the Rallye Monte-Carlo winner. “That said, I won’t have any choice in the matter: I will need to finish in the big points if I want to help Peugeot’s bid for the [IRC manufacturers’] title.”

Bouffier is currently fifth in the IRC drivers’ table with 88 points. He is co-driven by Xavier Panseri.

Kangur gets stand-in co-driver for Scotland

Martin Kangur will link up with a replacement co-driver on RACMSA Rally of Scotland this week.

With Anders Ots, the navigator who has accompanied him since June’s Prime Yalta Rally, contesting a clashing Estonian championship event this weekend, Kangur has called up Silver Kutt to co-drive his Honda Civic Type R on the Intercontinental Rally Challenge round.

“Andres Ots has supported me brilliantly since the Yalta Rally, but as he is competing this weekend in the Estonian championship unfortunately he is unavailable,” said Kangur. “That’s why Silver picks up the thread again.”

Rally of Scotland marks Kangur’s final appearance of the season in the IRC 2WD Cup. While the young Estonian has shown plenty of potential during the course of his campaign, a lack of good fortune has prevented him mounting a title bid. However, having first competed in Scotland in 2009, Kangur is relishing the opportunity to return to the stages in Perthshire and Stirlingshire.

“We’ve been planning to finish here since the start of the season, so I certainly intend to leave on a high,” said Kangur. “The conditions suit me well as I have a lot of experience on gravel in my country. I also took the lead here for several stages back in 2009. It was raining, there was a lot of mud, but I still put in a great performance. So yes, I count myself as one of the favourites.”