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Monte Carlo, 22 January, 2011 – Freddy Loix in a Škoda Fabia Super 2000 of Škoda Motorsport (factory team) came second in the world's most famous rally which, as is so typical of this event, was strongly affected by quickly changing weather conditions, particularly in Stage 2.

This year's Monte Carlo Rally comprised 13 special stages (altogether 337 kilometres) over three days. Juho Hänninen of Škoda Motorsport made the best start in Stage 1 on Wednesday (four specials stages, 128 kilometres) to get 45 seconds ahead of Freddy Loix who came second. The whole stage took place on dry asphalt, and Juho demonstrated his ever-improving competence on this surface. The first half of Stage 2 on Thursday (four special stages, 94 km) offered similar conditions, and Hänninen even increased his lead, but the second half showed clearly why the Monte Carlo Rally is known as a legendary but also extremely difficult race in which things may change completely in no time at all. A sudden snowfall shortly after a tyre change was a bad surprise for the drivers, and the rankings soon looked completely different on the snow-covered track - Juho Hänninen lost over two minutes to drop to sixth place, Freddy Loix finished Stage 2 in third.

The final day saw five special stages (115 km) and a long transfer from the Valence area as far as the mountains surrounding Monte Carlo where the fans were looking forward to attractive night-time stages (all of them on dry asphalt). Despite the drop through the rankings on Thursday, the drivers of Škoda cars did not want to give up without a fight. Freddy Loix put in a great performance to finish second overall, Juho Hänninen came sixth, Nicolas Vouilloz seventh and Jan Kopecký eighth.

Commenting on the first IRC event, Head of Škoda Motorsport Michal Hrabánek says: "Obviously, we are disappointed, because we had the highest ambitions before this event. Second place in Monte Carlo certainly isn't a bad result but, generally, the team is now rather upset. Yet I think we don't have to be ashamed of our performance here. All our cars worked perfectly but, unfortunately, we did not manage to react in time to that sudden change in weather conditions. The whole team deserves thanks for good preparation and a determined performance. "

Freddy Loix:: "Obviously, winning here would be even better, but we have to be happy as it is. It was difficult, especially Day 2, but we didn't give up - we wanted to fight till the end. I am looking forward to further cooperation with the Škoda Motorsport team, our Fabia Super 2000 worked great again".

Juho Hänninen: "We made an excellent start but then lost the race due to our own mistake. We have learned a lesson, but now we have to look forward. We had several options for the tyre change, but we didn't make the right decision".

Nicolas Vouilloz: "At the beginning we really felt that we hadn't done any racing for early a year, and it took us some time to warm up again, especially in fast stretches, but today we were back in the game again. Considering the defect we had in the very first special stage, I am happy about the result, we couldn't do much more then. I am looking forward to doing some more racing with the Fabia this year".

Jan Kopecký: "We had back luck with the tyre choice again, and the risk we took ended in a huge loss. But the car worked perfectly, and I want to thank the whole team for that".

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