Kopecky dominates WRC 2 in Germany
Jan Kopecky scored Skoda’s third consecutive WRC 2 victory at ADAC Rallye Deutschland on Sunday afternoon after dominating the three-day asphalt event.
Nasser Al-Attiyah regained the championship lead by finishing fourth. The Qatari held a two-point advantage over Esapekka Lappi, Kopecky’s team-mate, who surrendered top spot after crashing into a tree on Friday and eventually finishing out of the points in 13th.
Kopecky reeled off 10 consecutive stage wins in a Fabia R5 as he built a big lead of almost 2min 30sec over Craig Breen. When the Irishman punctured, Kopecky’s advantage rose to more than four minutes and he eased through Sunday’s final leg to win by 4min 13.8sec.
Eric Camilli scored a career-best second in a Ford Fiesta R5 with fellow Frenchman Quentin Giordano third in a DS 3 RRC, a further 2min 00.9sec behind.
Al-Attiyah plunged to 11th after going off the road and puncturing during the opening morning. A determined recovery brought him to within striking distance of Giordano until a spin on Sunday forced him to settle for fourth on his debut in a Fabia R5.
Breen recovered to fifth after overhauling Teemu Suninen on Sunday morning, the difference between the pair 9.2sec after 374.43km of stages.
Joan Carchat won the Production Cup category within WRC 2 in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X by 5min 47.8sec from Eamonn Boland. Max Rendina finished fourth to take the championship lead.
