Skoda has achieved a historic triumph, the first World Championship title in its history, after Red Bull Skoda’s Juho Hänninen & Mikko Markkula (FIN) in a Fabia Super 2000 secured the overall victory in the last rally of this year’s SWRC. Having put in a fantastic performance in its first year in the SWRC, the Red Bull Skoda team indeed deserves to celebrate. The World Championship title is the climax of this year’s celebrations marking 110 years of Skoda’s motor sports efforts.
image- Winner Red Bull Skoda team at RACC Rally
RACC Rally Espana was a perfect climax of the season for the whole team. Juho Hanninen crowned his previous performances by driving confidently, smartly but fast in Catalunya. Playing it cool but driving aggressively at the same time, Hanninen fought for victory in Spain with Dakar Rally winner Al-Attiyah in a Ford until the very last stage. The battle for the championship title was in fact decided already in Friday’s first stage – while the current championship leader Juho Hanninen achieved the best time, his biggest rival for this year’s crown, Ott Tanak, had a crash that made it impossible for him to appear in the rest of Friday’s programme. At that point Hanninen changed his strategy – driving tactically became the top priority. Yet he carried on achieving excellent times, remained focused and realised that the overall victory was within his reach.
image – Red Bull Skoda Rally Car at RACC Rally
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