Groups

The rebooted European Rally Championship kicks off next week (3rd – 5th January) with the International Jännerrallye in Austria , with a few famous names from the IRC and WRC on the entry list

Drivers

http://www.jaennerrallye.at/uploads/media/Nennliste2013_03.pdf

IRC regular Jan Kopecký will be entering under the Skoda Motorsport banner in a Skoda Fabia S2000.

Another IRC driver, Bryan Bouffier will contest the rally in a Peugeot 207 S2000, as will WRC legend François Delecour.

Another notable entry is Stig Blomqvist, who will be using a Mitsubishi Evo IX to compete.

The Route:
Leg 1: http://www.jaennerrallye.at/uploads/media/ANHANG_II.I._UEbersichtsplan_1._Etappe_01.pdf

Leg 2: http://www.jaennerrallye.at/uploads/media/ANHANG_II.I._UEbersichtsplan_2._Etappe_01.pdf

Day 1 Report:

Jan Kopecký began his bid for a 2nd consecutive Jännerrallye win in the best possible way by going fastest on today’s Shakedown stage. His time of 1:11.3 was 1.2 seconds faster than that of 2nd placed driver, François Delecour.

Shakedown Times
1 Jan Kopecký (CZE)/Pavel Dresler (CZE) ŠKODA Fabia S2000 1m11.3s
2 François Delecour (FRA)/Dominique Savignoni (FRA) Peugeot 207 S2000 +1.2s
3 Beppo Harrach (AUT)/Leopold Welserscheimb (AUT) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX R4 +1.7s
4 Pavel Valoušek (CZE)/Lukáš Kostka (CZE) Peugeot 207 S2000 +2.2s
5 Michal Sołowow (POL/Maciej Baran (POL) Peugeot 207 S2000 +2.8s
6 Václav Pech (CZE)/Petr Uhel (CZE) MINI John Cooper Works S2000 +3.1s
7 Bryan Bouffier (FRA)/Olivier Fournier (FRA) Peugeot 207 S2000 +3.4s
8 Raimund Baumschlager (AUT)/Klaus Wicha (GER) ŠKODA Fabia S2000 +3.9s
= Jan Černý (CZE)/Pavel Kohout (CZE) ŠKODA Fabia S2000 +3.9s
10 Martin Fischerlehner (AUT)/Tobias Unterweger (AUT) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX +4.6s

Skoda Motorsport has released some on-board footage with Kopecký from one of his runs on the stage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eMET7reKOE&feature=youtu.be&a