Skoda and drivers of Skoda Fabia Super 2000s have been officially awarded the 2011 Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) champion honours. Skoda dominated the Manufacturers category for the second consecutive year and Andreas Mikkelsen in a Fabia Super 2000 won the Drivers’ category. Second and third places were also taken by Fabia drivers – Jan Kopecký and Juho Hänninen. Furthermore, Juho Hänninen & Mikko Markkula of Red Bull SKODA won the first-ever World Championship title for SKODA in the SWRC category. The year 2011 in which the brand is celebrating 110 years of its motorsport efforts has thus become the most successful year in the history of SKODA Motorsport.
image – Skoda Motorsports Cars
Drivers of Skoda Fabia Super 2000s dominated eight of this year’s eleven IRC events, sweeping the podium in three of them (the Azores, the Czech Republic (Barum Rally) and Cyprus). Mikkelsen triumphed in Scotland and Cyprus, Kopecký in the Czech Republic (Barum Rally) and Hungary, Hänninen in the Canary Islands, the Ukraine and the Azores Islands and Loix in Belgium. Andreas Mikkelsen won the highest number of stages this year – 38.
image – Skoda Motorsports Winners With IRC Trophies
The finale of Skoda Motorsport’s season will be crowned at the prestigious Race of Champions to take place in Düsseldorf, Germany this weekend. Skoda Motorsport will be represented by both its drivers, Jan Kopecký and Juho Hänninen, in both the nations’ competition on Saturday and the individuals’ competition on Sunday. Skoda will provide four Fabia Super 2000s for the event. The appearance in the Race of Champions is one of the highlights of the year in which SKODA is celebrating 110 years of its motorsport efforts.
image – Skoda Motorsports Winners With IRC Trophies
Commenting on the season that has just ended, Head of SKODA Motorsport Michal Hrabánek said: “The year 2011 was fantastic for Skoda. We have repeated last year’s victory in the Manufacturers’ category of the IRC, Andreas Mikkelsen & Ola Floene in a factory-prepared Fabia Super 2000 have won the title in the Drivers’ category and Juho Hänninen and Mikko Markkula have won the first-ever World Championship title for Skoda in the SWRC. Furthermore, we have celebrated victories in four national championships (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Slovenia). We have been absolutely successful this season, and the hard work put in by the whole team deserves great appreciation.”
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