Valoušek victorious in Slovakia, Henry wins in Ireland and Ranga roars to a win in Hungary as the FABIA R5 continues to top leaderboards across Europe.
Pavel Valoušek victorious at the Rally Lubeník as Slovak championship goes down to the wire
In the fifth round of the Slovak Rally Championship at the Rally Lubeník, Pavel Valoušek secured his fourth successive podium and his first overall win of the season.
Ably supported by co-driver Veronika Havelková, Valoušek, who was driving a ŠKODA FABIA R5 for the Energy Oil Motorsport team (title photo above), drove a consistent race and found extra pace towards the end when it mattered. They clinched two of the final three stages to win by just 15.2 seconds.
Pavel Valoušek was not the only ŠKODA to put in a good showing at the Rally Lubeník. Tomáš Ondrej and Adam Gomori finished in third in their ŠKODA FABIA WRC for the Xiqiu Rally Team.
And in fifth place for the Mogul Racing team were Jan Černý / Petr Černohorský in what was their first ever drive in a FABIA R5. For them, this outing served as preparation ahead of the Barum Czech Rally Zlín, which will be the part of the European Rally Championship in two weeks.
One place further back, in sixth spot, were Věroslav Cvrček / Petr Novák, driving a FABIA R5 for L Racing. An honourable mention too for Jan Sýkora / Štěpán Palivec. The KL Racing duo was looking odds on for a top 10 finish until an accident in stage five forced them out of the rally.
The next round of the Slovak Rally Championship will be the Rally Košice, which takes place from 9th to 11th September.
Péter Ranga wins Baranya Kupa in Hungary on second FABIA R5 start
At the Baranya Kupa in Hungary, there was a hugely impressive performance from Péter Ranga and his co-driver Botond Csányi for the Topp Autó 2010 team.
They led the event from start to finish winning eight out of nine stages on the way to victory by a margin of 47 seconds. If that wasn’t impressive enough, this was just the second rally Ranga has competed in with a ŠKODA FABIA R5. And it is the first he has finished.
It is an event in which has a shown good form in the past. Victory here in 2014 was followed up by a second place finish last year too. But that shouldn’t take anything away from the magnitude of this performance with limited testing and in bumpy conditions.
NEWS IN BRIEF
- Desi Henry / Liam Moynihan drove their ŠKODA FABIA R5 to victory at the Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally in the Irish Forest Rally Championship. They won by a margin of 1 minute and 8 seconds to claim their second win of the season and ensure the perfect warm-up for next weekend’s Ulster Rally in the British Rally Championship.
- At the Rally Acosta Ñú, Didier Arias and his co-driver Hector Nunez claimed a place on the podium in their ŠKODA FABIA R5 with a third place finish. Championship leader Gustavo Saba finished fourth with co-driver Fernando Mussano after an incident saw them fall to tenth place and paid to his challenge for a third successive victory. Meanwhile Pedro Fadul / Hans Thiede finished sixth, while Miguel Zaldivar / Victor Aguilera were also in the mix for a podium finish before another incident on stage 10 forced them to retire.
- At a very fast Rally van Staden in Belgium, Vincent Verschueren and his co-driver Veronique Hostens took a little time to find their rhythm before claiming the runners-up spot. They finished an agonizing two seconds behind the eventual winners but ahead of the other R5 cars in the field. But they secured some valuable time in the car ahead of the return of the Belgian Rally Championship in two weeks’ time, with the Omloop van Vlaanderen Rally.
- The 300 Lakes Rally in Lithuania saw Albert von Thurn und Taxis secure more valuable mileage and experience behind the wheel of his ŠKODA FABIA R5. He finished in 13th place overall.
COMING UP THIS WEEKEND
Ulster Rally
Rally Information:
Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland; 19th and 20th August; 6th round of British Rally Championship; asphalt event, 14 special stages, around 133 km competitive distance.
Entered ŠKODA Fabia R5 Teams:
David Bogie / Kevin Rae (CA1 Sport); Desi Henry / Liam Moynihan
Interesting Facts:
Desi Henry / Liam Moynihan finished second here last year in a ŠKODA FABIA S2000 and will be looking to improve on that in a FABIA R5; ŠKODA hasn’t won the Ulster Rally since 2009 when Eugene Donnelly / Paddy Toner claimed victory in a ŠKODA FABIA WRC.
SM Ralli Turku
Rally Information:
Turku, south-west Finland; 19th and 20th August; 5th round of Finnish Rally Championship; gravel event, 9 special stages, around 84 km competitive distance.
Entered ŠKODA Fabia R5 Teams:
Mikko Lehessaari / Reeta Hämäläinen (Hannu’s Rally Team)
Interesting Facts:
A ŠKODA FABIA R5 has won the last two rounds of the Finnish championship with Ole Christian Veiby / Stig Rune Skjærmoen winning both for the Printsport Oy team.
Sydhavsrally
Rally Information:
Horslunde, south-east Denmark; 19th and 20th August; 4th round of Danish Rally Championship; asphalt event, 17 special stages, around 170 km competitive distance.
Entered ŠKODA Fabia R5 Team:
Esben Hegelund / Karsten Isaksen (Wevers Sport)
Interesting Facts:
Esben Hegelund finished third here last season, but this will be his first time here in a ŠKODA FABIA R5; Hegelund won the opening two rounds of the Danish Rally Championship this season.
