The 40th Barum Czech Rally Zlín was dominated by Skodas Fabia Super 2000. Skoda has sealed its victory in the brand competition in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.
The ninth Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) event was affected by fast-changing weather conditions, with sunny moments and strong rain taking turns all over the weekend. For the third time in this year’s IRC series, the winner is Belgian Freddy Loix representing Skoda Motorsport, followed by his teammate Juho Hänninen and Pavel ValouSek of Skoda Delimax who came third. By dominating this event, Skoda has sealed its victory in the brand competition, as it can’t be overtaken in this year’s remaining three IRC events.
Moreover, Juho Hänninen has reinforced his leadership in the IRC driver rankings.
Michal Hrabánek, Head of Skoda Motorsport said: “This is a unique achievement for the entire Skoda brand. We see the victory in the IRC Manufacturers competition as a great success and a result of the team’s hard work throughout the Fabia Super 2000 project. It is indeed a unique milestone in the history of our sporting activities. The season is not yet over, though, and we will do our best to win the Drivers competition, too.”
Freddy Loix: “This is my second victory here, and this one was certainly a lot more difficult than the one two years ago, due to the bad weather conditions this weekend. I have been feeling great since the first day, and even at the moments when I was not as fast as I would have wished to be I knew the most important thing was to avoid making a mistake.”
– Skoda Motorsport
