Jänner Rallye (Austria) - 4-5 Jan 13

Kopecký clinches Jännerrallye by half a second in thrilling start to new-look ERC

Posted: January 7, 2013 4:14 PM

ŠKODA driver Jan Kopecký has taken his second consecutive victory on the Jännerrallye in Austria, round one of the new-look European Rally Championship by just half a second after a dramatic final day – with the winner only decided on the very last stage.

Kopecký started Saturday’s eight stages with a 20-second advantage over the Peugeot of Bryan Bouffier. But heavy rain and some ice made today’s route around Freistadt extremely tricky, and the Czech driver concentrated on just getting to the finish in front of 120,000 spectators.

His fortunes were turned on their head when he picked up a front-left puncture around seven kilometres from the finish of stage 15, which dropped him to third with only three stages to go. Bouffier, competing on his first Jännerrallye, took the lead despite spinning on the same stage.

However, Kopecký was determined not to give up, and pushed as hard as he could to start the final 25-kilometre stage 10.6 seconds adrift of Bouffier. He emerged from it with a winning margin of 11.1 seconds, ensuring that he scraped to victory by just half a second in heavy rain and fog in his Michelin-shod Fabia Super 2000.

“I never stopped believing I could win because if you stop believing you cannot achieve anything,” said Kopecký at the finish after the epic day-long battle. “I was still believing and still hoping. Thanks to Bryan for an incredible battle and to the team for a great car. Pavel [Dresler], my co-driver, also did a great job so thanks to him.”

Bouffier settled for second, a result he hadn’t anticipated heading into the Austrian event, given his lack of experience of the undulating stages.
“The conditions on this event were really tricky, some of the most demanding that I have ever seen,” said Bouffier, who scored seven bonus points for topping leg two.

For much of the rally Bouffier battled with local hero Raimund Baumschlager, a 10-time Austrian champion. After a big moment in his self-run Fabia on the opening stage of the day that nearly put him out, the 53-year-old decided that discretion was the better part of valour in the treacherous conditions. He then concentrated on scoring points for his domestic championship.

Czech driver Václav Pech – a former winner of the Jännerrallye – was fourth in a turbocharged MINI John Cooper Works S2000, having consistently fought at the front and even won a stage on the opening day.

Austria’s Beppo Harrach was another stage winner and finished fifth in his Mitsubishi Lancer, clinching the ERC Production Car Cup and the Colin McRae Flat Out Trophy for his battling performance following extensive delays with a misting windscreen on Friday night’s stages. He beat former Polish champion Kajetan Kajetanowicz in a Subaru by 1.1s. Kajetanowicz was making his Jännerrallye debut and starred with an outright stage victory.
Former world championship star François Delecour was seventh in a Kronos-run Peugeot. The Frenchman had a spin on Saturday’s second stage and then lost more ground with a puncture.

Czech driver Jaroslav Orsák (Mitsubishi) took eighth despite a scare prior to the final stage when his car refused to fire after he stopped to rectify a throttle glitch. Jaromír Tarabus overcame electrical and intercom gremlins to finish ninth with Pavel Valoušek completing the top 10 after Jan ?erný dropped out with a broken differential on the final stage. Rallying legend Stig Blomqvist finished 12th.

Promising Austrian Hannes Danzinger recovered from a penultimate stage puncture to win the ERC 2WD Championship classification in a Renault Clio R3. Hermann Neubauer had been in contention until he retired with a damaged wheel.

The ERC promised ‘Serious Competition Ahead’ – and with three different leaders and seven stage winners on the opening round, the series certainly delivered on its pledge ahead of the second round, Rally Liep?ja-Ventspils in Latvia from 1-3 February.

Results

Posted: January 7, 2013 4:03 PM

1 Jan Kopecký (CZE)/Pavel Dresler (CZE) ŠKODA Fabia S2000 2h35m45.3s
2 Bryan Bouffier (FRA)/Olivier Fournier (FRA) Peugeot 207 S2000 +0.5s
3 Raimund Baumschlager (AUT)/Klaus Wicha (DEU) ŠKODA Fabia S2000 +1m18.1s
4 Václav Pech (CZE)/Peter Uhel (CZE) MINI John Cooper Works S2000 +2m47.0s
5 Beppo Harrach (AUT)/Leopold Welsersheimb (AUT) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX R4 +3m31.8s
6 Kajetan Kajetanowicz (POL)/Jaros?aw Baran (POL) Subaru Impreza STI R4 +3m32.9s
7 François Delecour (FRA)/Dominique Savignoni (FRA) Peugeot 207 S2000 +5m21.2s
8 Jaroslav Orsák (CZE)/David Šmeidler (CZE) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +6m33.7s
9 Jaromír Tarabus (CZE)/Daniel Trunkát (CZE) ŠKODA Fabia S2000 +7m56.0s
10 Pavel Valoušek (CZE)/Lukáš Kostka (CZE) Peugeot 207 S2000 +8m11.8s

ERC Production Car Cup:
Beppo Harrach (AUT)/Leopold Welsersheimb (AUT) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX R4

ERC 2WD Championship:
Hannes Danzinger (AUT)/Kathi Wüstenhagen (GER) Renault Clio R3

Jänner Rallye (Austria) - 4-5 Jan 13 - RESULTS

Results On Line (Jänner 2013) | Results by: rally-base results
European Rally Championship (ERC) - fiaerc.com

National champions set for FIA ERC season-opener in Austria

Posted: December 20, 2012 8:09 PM

National champions from Austria, Czech Republic, Poland and Romania are among the drivers gunning for glory on the International Jännerrallye, round one of next year’s new-look FIA European Rally Championship from 3-5 January 2013.

Jan Kopecký, the Czech champion in 2012, heads the entry in his ŠKODA Fabia Super 2000 with French legend François Delecour, the winner of the Romanian national championship this year, seeded third in a Peugeot 207 S2000.

Raimund Baumschlager, who claimed yet another Austrian crown in 2012, will compete in a Fabia with Kajetan Kajetanowicz, who secured a third consecutive Polish title during the season just gone, taking part in a Subaru Impreza R4 STI.

Other notable names taking part include former Rallye Monte-Carlo winner Bryan Bouffier, 2011 IRC 2WD Cup champion Jean-Michel Raoux, leading Czech drivers Vaclav Pech (MINI John Cooper Works S2000), Antonin Tlus?ák and Pavel Valoušek, plus former world rally champion Stig Blomqvist in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX.

“The entry list for the new-look FIA European Rally Championship in 2013 is building up day by day and some of the drivers that were not able to be ready for the Jännerrallye due to the early start to the season will join in Latvia or the Canary Islands,” said ERC General Co-ordinator Jean-Pierre Nicolas. “But we are delighted the first round of the ERC has attracted such a strong entry and congratulations to the event organisers for their efforts. The entry features a perfect blend of established stars and rising talents and we look forward to some serious competition ahead in Austria in January.”

A total of 63 crews have entered the main international event, which features 18 special stages over a competitive distance of 248.46 kilometres and will enjoy extensive coverage on Eurosport and Eurosport Player. Snow and ice-coated roads are once again expected to be a feature of the popular asphalt event, which regularly attracts more than 100,000 spectators. Meanwhile, a further 33 crews set to tackle the national-level rally.

Seeded Entry List

Posted: December 20, 2012 8:07 PM

Jänner Rallye (Austria) - 3-5 Jan 13 - SEEDED ENTRY LIST

Extensive Eurosport coverage for Jännerrallye

Posted: December 18, 2012 10:25 AM

Eurosport has confirmed its programming for the International Jännerrallye, round one of the new-look 2013 FIA European Rally Championship.

Available on the Eurosport platform and online through Eurosport Player, the broadcast schedule for the Austrian event, which takes place near the city of Linz from 3-5 January 2013, is as follows:

Friday 4 January 2013
Highlights Day One: 21:45hrs-22:15hrs (Eurosport2)
Highlights Day One: 23:00hrs-23:30hrs (Eurosport)

Saturday 5 January 2013
Highlights Day One: 06:00hrs-06:30hrs (Eurosport2)
Highlights Day One: 07:45hrs-0815hrs (Eurosport)
Rally Review: 22:30hrs-23:00hrs (Eurosport)

Sunday 6 January 2013
Rally Review: 06:00hrs-06:30hrs (Eurosport2)

Tuesday 8 January 2013
Inside ERC: 22:45hrs-23:15hrs (Eurosport)

All timings are Ireland/UK and subject to change. Check local listings for further details.

Rally Guide / Regulations / Details

Posted: December 13, 2012 9:05 AM

European Rally Championship (ERC) - fiaerc.com
Jänner Rallye (Austria)