2017 CHAMPS: The most successful motorsport season in ŠKODA history

At ŠKODA’s home rally series in the Czech Republic, ŠKODA Motorsport works driver Jan Kopecký won his third successive national title and fifth overall. Once again Kopecký was totally dominant in his FABIA R5, winning every rally he drove in for the third year running.

For the second year running, Gustavo Saba added his national title, the Paraguayan Rally Championship to his CODASUR crown. It is the third year in a row he has been crowned Paraguayan champion and his sixth title overall – four of which have come in ŠKODA cars.

Kalle Rovanperä is one of the hottest young names in international rallying at the moment and he showed why as he retained his Latvian Rally Championship crown in a FABIA R5. Rovanperä had the 2017 title in the bag before the end of August which meant he was a confirmed two-time champion just over a month before his seventeenth birthday.

In Germany, it was Fabian Kreim who was the dominant driver. He won his second successive German Rally Championship title and in doing so ensured that ŠKODA would become the most successful manufacturer in German rallying history, with a total of seven German Rally Championship titles under their belts.

In neighbouring Belgium, Vincent Verschueren won his first major title as he was crowned Belgian rally champion. In doing so, he secured a fourth successive Belgian title for ŠKODA as he stepped into the shoes of Belgian rallying legend Freddy Loix who won three in a row between 2014 and 2016 before retiring. 

In Hungary, Norbert Herczig has also been a dominant force in domestic rallying. This year he won his third successive Hungarian Rally Championship title - all of which have come in ŠKODA cars - and his fourth championship overall.

Meanwhile, in Finland, Teemu Asunmaa won his first title in the most prestigious category of the Finnish Rally Championship. His achievement was made all the more impressive as it was his first season not only driving a FABIA R5 but competing in the R5 class at all.

Filip Nivette was victorious in his FABIA R5 in the Polish Rally Championship to claim his first ever title. He won four rallies en-route to a dominant title win.

In Greece, Socratis Tsolakidis won his second Greek Rally Championship fourteen years after his first. He took a long break from rallying competing in almost no rallies between 2009 and 2016, but he returned in a FABIA R5 to take the championship by storm.

In neighbouring Turkey, Burak Çukurova secured his first big championship win. He won three rallies on the way to the Turkish Rally Championship title.

Hermen Kobus returned to the Dutch rallying scene after a few years competing abroad. And it proved to be a successful homecoming as he won the Dutch Open Rally Championship title.

In Lebanon, Roger Feghali switched to the FABIA R5 midway through the 2017 season and was rewarded with a thirteenth Lebanese Rally Championship crown.

And last but by no means least Simos Galatariotis won the Cyprus Rally Championship for the first time in his career. He started the season in another car, but drove a FABIA R5 for last two rounds of the season, winning them both to ensure he would be crowned champion.