Guy Wilks of Škoda UK Motorsport came second, Juho Hänninen of Škoda Motorsport third and his team Jan Kopecký fourth!
The beginning of the second event of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) series saw bad weather –the prologue scheduled for Thursday had to be cancelled due to long, heavy rains, and so the racers appeared on the start line as late as Friday morning, with altogether 14 special stages of a total length of 213 km ahead of them.
Juho Hänninen with Mikko Markkula had bad luck right at the beginning – losing about 90 seconds after a puncture on the second kilometre of Friday's first stage, they came fourth and had to struggle with their handicap until the end of the event. Although they won all of the stages on Saturday, their brave performance “only” earned them third place.
Their team mates Jan Kopecký and Petr Starý were third after the first day, but dropped down to fourth after a puncture on the rear right wheel in the first stage on Saturday. Having lost nearly 40 seconds, they finished fourth also in the final standings. Two of Saturday's stages (total length 30 km) had to be cancelled, because the track was flooded with water after strong tropical rainfalls at night.
Putting in an excellent performance throughout the race, Englishman Guy Wilks with his co-driver Philip Phugh were keeping their position right behind the winning crew of Kris Meek all over the event.
Michal Hrabánek, Head of Škoda Motorsport: “Considering all that happened during this event, we can indeed be satisfied – it was out first appearance in this difficult race and the result was, quite inevitably, affected by punctures of both our factory crews. In particular, Juho Hänninen's performance in Stage 2, i.e., winning all of Saturday's stages and altogether six of the total twelve, is a great confidence booster for the upcoming event in Argentina where the whole team is now moving. We will do our best to succeed, but I am certain it will be no pleasure cruise. I wish to congratulate Kris Meek, he's shown why he won the IRC title last year“.
Juho Hänninen: “Obviously, we are sorry about the puncture on Friday, the race might have been a bit different. Anyway, I am pleased with today's performance and I am also going to do my best in Argentina“.
Jan Kopecký: “It's been a difficult weekend. We apparently still have a lot to improve on gravel, but we are looking forward to Argentina. Once again, the Fabia was great throughout the race“.
Guy Wilks: “It's been a good race with many exciting duels. We learned a lesson or two at the beginning, but now we are looking forward to Argentina very much”.