Škoda Motorsport lähtee torstaina alkavaan Neste Ralliin kahden auton voimin. Molemmat kuljettajat hakivat viime hetken tuntumaa juuri ennen nuotitusjakson alkamista.
After powering the new ŠKODA FABIA R5 evo to two WRC 2 Pro category wins in a row – plus winning Rally Chile with the predecessor model –, KalleRovanperä and co-driver Jonne Halttunen (FIN/FIN) can hardly wait to start Neste Rally Finland (01-04/08/2019).
During his first Neste Rally Finland back in 2018, Kalle Rovanperä was 16 times the fastest WRC 2 driver on the 23 special stages. But a suspension issue did cost him a possible win. This year, the current leader of the championship’s WRC 2 Pro category wants to settle the bill with his home event. “I love to drive this fast and smooth gravel stages in my home country. We had good testsbefore the rally and the setup of our ŠKODA FABIA R5 evo works very well. I feel confident with the car, and that is very important on these fantastic stages,” emphasizes Rovanperä.
ŠKODA Motorsport boss Michal Hrabánek said: “We know, that Kalle and Eerik are really fast. Now they have to be as well cool and smart in front of their home crowd in Finland. I hope, they will provide ŠKODA Motorsport with the points we need to take the outright lead in the manufacturer’s standings of the WRC 2 Pro championship.”
In the WRC 2 category for private teams, French ŠKODA crew Pierre-Louis Loubet/Vincent Landais lately showed a remarkable performance on gravel by winning the class in Portugal and Italy/Sardinia. With a good result from Finland, they even could move into the overall lead of the WRC 2 championship.