Skoda one-two cheers team boss Hrabanek

Skoda Motorsport head Michal Hrabanek has said the marque’s one-two finish on Rally Islas Canarias El Corte Ingles has laid down the foundations for another successful season in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.

Defending IRC champion Juho Hanninen led home team-mate Jan Kopecky in a reversal of last year’s result on the Gran Canaria-based rally. It means Hanninen moves to the top of the drivers’ standings while Skoda leads the makes’ points heading to round three in Corsica next month.

“We have defended our last year’s positions here, and that is always difficult,” said Hrabanek. “I believe that we have laid a good foundation for the 2011 season. I wish to thank both our factory crews, because their duel made this event and especially its end very exciting. I also want to thank our importers for continuing to support the Fabia Super 2000 project.

“Now we are going to appear in a series of IRC events within a fairly short time and we have to prepare for them carefully. The [next] one is Corsica in mid-May. We are going to talk about the team line-up for this event in the upcoming days.”