Rally Vinho da Madeira: Skoda starring!
The Madeiran Rally was the second of the year admeasuring in both European Rally Championship and Intercontinental Rally Challenge, being the 6th and 8th round respectively. The factory team of Skoda was the star, as the Fabias S2000 EVO II dominated the event and finished exclusively on the podium, with the Belgian Freddy Loix taking his second victory in 2 rallies behind the wheel of the Fabia. For those who don’t remember, the tarmac specialist drove for Skoda in his home event, Ypres Rally in which he had also won. Of course, his effort wasn’t as easy, since initially the ex-European Champion and ERC standings leader so far Luca Rossetti was leading the event in his Grande Punto S2000 until going off the road and destroying his car. Luckily, the damage was only in the car and the crew was ok. The IRC champion Kris Meeke was unlucky, as he retired and his title hopes were diminished. In the meantime Jan Kopecky finished in second place and took the victory in terms of the ERC, which led him in closing to Rossetti for the title bid. The Finn Juho Hanninen rounded off the top-3 for Skoda, without being able to fight for more due to a puncture.