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Mladá Boleslav, 7 April 2014 – The factory-backed team ŠKODA MRF is setting its sights on defending its title in the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) with two top driver duos. Last year's champions Gaurav Gill/Glenn Macneall (IND/NZ) will be lining up alongside the European champions Jan Kopecký/Pavel Dresler (CZ/CZ) in the first race of the season in New Zealand from 11 to 13 April. The APRC has never seen such a high-profile pairing of drivers. The Rally of Whangarei is the first of six races in the new APRC season.

"We had a fantastic season last year and we wrote APRC history. The first thing I'd like to do is therefore thank ŠKODA and MRF for their continued support," says Gill, who is the first Indian to ever have won the APRC. "We won't be resting on our laurels, though, and we will do our very best to be in with a chance of securing the championship title again this year." The ŠKODA drivers were the first to cross the finishing line in their Fabia Super 2000 in five of the six APRC races last year, and they therefore comfortably won the manufacturers' standings for ŠKODA.

In contrast to Gill, the Asia-Pacific rallies will be virgin territory for the Czech driver Jan Kopecký. Having won last year's FIA European Rally Championship (ERC), he is now looking forward to an entirely new challenge. "New rallies with completely different racing conditions are obviously an exciting prospect for me," says the ŠKODA factory driver. "We had a fantastic season in 2013 and we now want to pick up where we left off, together with the ŠKODA MRF team. I have a great car and a highly professional team. And obviously I'm hoping that my ŠKODA teammate Gaurav Gill will be able to give us lots of good tips."

That shouldn't be a problem in the first race of the season in New Zealand, where Gill came second last year, behind his previous ŠKODA teammate Esapekka Lappi (FIN), who is competing in the ERC this year. There are, however, new challenges this year during the 14 special stages covering a distance of 241.29 kilometres around the rally base at Whangarei in New Zealand. For example, the super special stage in the region located a good 160 kilometres north of the capital Auckland will take place under the floodlights this year.

Competing in the APRC is an important step in the Czech car maker's drive to achieve growth in international markets. ŠKODA is aiming to increase 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.

Meanwhile back at the ŠKODA headquarters in Mladá Boleslav, work continues on development of the Fabia R 5, the successor to the successful Fabia Super 2000. Developing this new racing vehicle based on the future series model of the Fabia and featuring a 1.6-litre turbocharged engine in line with the FIA rules is the top priority for ŠKODA Motorsport in the 2014 season. "This represents our motorsport future. Moving into the R5 category is a logical step for the ŠKODA brand," says ŠKODA's Motorsport Director Michal Hrabánek. "We are currently working on the assumption that the new vehicle will have been homologated by mid-2015."

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