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Kopecký eyes WRC 2 lead

Skoda Motorsport driver Jan Kopecký can take the lead of WRC 2 if he maintains his 100 per cent record with a fourth victory of the season at this week's ADAC Rallye Deutschland (16-19 august).

The Fabia R5 driver trails team-mate Pontus Tidemand by 18-points, but with the Swede skipping the season's final asphalt round, Kopecký could claim a seven-point lead with victory, with second-place also enough for the Czech driver to move to the top of the standings.

However, Kopecký will face stiff competition in Germany from a high-quality field of 19 entries that includes his 17-year-old team-mate Kalle Rovanperä.

Rovanperä was the star of last month's Neste Rally Finland and was on course for a home victory before broken suspension dropped him to fourth. In Germany however, the youngster will face a fresh challenge when he drives the works Skoda on asphalt for the first time, at a rally he has never tackled before.

Despite a heavy crash during pre-rally testing Gus Greensmith has been given the green light to compete this weekend. The Ford Fiesta R5 driver is currently third in the championship standings.

Other Fiesta drivers to watch out for are Eric Camilli, who has been testing the new VW Polo R5 in recent months, as well as European champion Kajetan Kajetanowicz and reigning Junior WRC champion Nil Solans.

Citroën has three C3 R5s entered for the sealed-surface rally, with Stéphane Lefebvre and Simone Tempestini in factory-prepared entries. French champion Yoann Bonato will drive a privately-run version.

After securing runner-up spot in Finland, Jari Huttunen is making his fifth start of the season in a Hyundai Motorsport-entered i20 R5. Pierre-Louis Loubet, Nicolas Ciamin and Jose Suarez are all in privately-entered examples.

Lukasz Pieniazek returns in a Skoda Fabia R5 after skipping Finland, while Benito Guerra and Fabio Andolfi both overcame minor crashes while testing their Skodas this week.

Zdroj: wrc.com