Exotic Sata Rally Acores will see both Skoda Motorsport crews

The upcoming weekend is opening the second half of this year's IRC Championship. The sixth event is an exotic rally on the Azores Islands that is typical of a beautiful wild landscape, and difficult stages. Four Fabia Super 2000s in total will appear on the start line – Hänninen and Kopecký (factory cars), Mikkelsen of Skoda UK and Sandell (Sweden). Kopecký's co-driver Petr Starý has recovered from an injury that forced the crew to withdraw from the previous rally in Belgium and is back in the game.

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The three-day programme includes 17 stages, with 209 competition kilometres plus about 550 kilometres of transfers between the stages. Reigning IRC Champion Juho Hänninen knows that this gravel rally is not going to be an easy one: “This is our third appearance in the Azores (together with Mikko Markkula) – we didn't have much luck here last year, so I hope that we will do a lot better this time. I like this island, it is really beautiful.”

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His team-mate Jan Kopecký is also looking forward to the Azores: “In the first place, I am pleased that my co-driver has recovered from his injury and that we can take part in this rally. We achieved excellent times in the Azores last year, and we want to make use of the experience we've gained here, although this will be our first appearance on gravel after a whole year”.

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