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Andreas Mikkelsen in a Skoda Fabia S2000 is the 2011 IRC Champion

11/11/2011 12:52
The winner of the 2011 Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) is Andreas Mikkelsen of SKODA UK Motorsport, Kopecky 2nd, Hanninen 3rd – all in SKODA Fabia S2000s.

Driving a Fabia Super 2000 prepared by SKODA Motorsport (factory team), Mikkelsen comfortably won the season's last rally in Cyprus to make his dream of winning the Championship title come true.

Jan Kopecky of SKODA Motorsport came second in Cyprus to finish second overall, thus becoming the IRC Vice-Champion for the third consecutive year. The third best driver of this year's IRC series is the 2010 IRC Champion and 2011 SWRC Champion Juho Hanninen. SKODA's achievements this season decorate the celebrations of 110 years of the brand's motorsport efforts.

Andreas Mikkelsen commented: “I can't believe it, it's a fantastic feeling and I am full of emotions. We've had a great year and I wish to thank all of the members of our team. Special thanks go to SKODA, we've had a fantastic car.”

Commenting on the season that has just ended, Head of the SKODA Motorsport team Michal Hrabanek says: “Congratulations to Andreas on winning the Championship, we are pleased that the winner is a Fabia Super 2000 driver, just like last year. I believe we have promoted SKODA really excellently and showed that the importer programme produces great results even at the highest level. I wish to thank the entire team.”

SKODA has won eight rallies of eleven in total in this year's IRC Championship - Hanninen has won three (Canary Islands, the Ukraine, the Azores), Kopecky two (the Czech Republic, Hungary), Mikkelsen two (Scotland, Cyprus) and Loix one (Belgium).
For the first time ever, SKODA Motorsport will appear in the Race of Champions this year. Seen as the climax of the motorsport season, the event takes place in Dusseldorf, Germany over the first weekend in December (3-4 Dec).

2011 IRC final standings - Drivers category:
1. Mikkelsen – 153.5 points
2. Kopecky – 152 points
3. Hannnien – 125 points