Asia-Pacific Rally Championship: One-two victory for SKODA MRF team

The factory-backed ŠKODA MRF team is celebrating the perfect start to the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) in New Zealand with a one-two victory on Sunday.
Defending champions Gaurav Gill and Glenn Macneall (IND/NZ) won the Rally of Whangarei in New Zealand with an 11.9-second lead over the European champions, Jan Kopecký and Pavel Dresler (CZ/CZ).
The two ŠKODA MRF teams comfortably shook off their competitors and won all 14 special stages in the first of six races in the APRC season thanks to the Fabia Super 2000, which performed superbly once again.
“I’ve been close to winning here a number of times, and this time I finally succeeded. This is a fantastic victory for the entire ŠKODA MRF team,” commented Gill.
Last year, Gill, who hails from India, finished second in the season opener in New Zealand, behind his teammate Esapekka Lappi (FIN). This time, however, he put in a strong performance in a thrilling battle with Kopecký on the final day, to narrowly secure victory on the route which had been reduced to 220.87 kilometres.
The 2013 European champion took the lead on the first day on the dusty tracks around the rally base in Whangarei – an impressive achievement considering that this was the 32-year-old’s debut at the APRC and also that he was competing on tyres made by the Indian manufacturer, MRF, for the first time.
“We had a really good battle with Gaurav over the entire weekend. This gives me the opportunity to improve. I haven’t had much experience with this kind of gravel rally and this is also the first time that I have competed so far away from my home in the Czech Republic," said Kopecký.
Gill and Kopecký are now at the top of the drivers’ standings thanks to their one-two finish. The frontrunners, ŠKODA MRF, are also currently on course to defend their title in the manufacturers’ standings ahead of the second race of the season in New Caledonia from May 16 to 18.
Competing at the APRC is an important step in the Czech car maker’s drive to achieve growth in international markets. ŠKODA is aiming at increasing its global sales to at least 1.5 million units a year in the next few years and also to achieve strong growth in particular in the Asian growth markets.