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Istanbul, 8 December, 2012 – ŠKODA received two cups at this year's FIA Awards – for winning the European Championship (Hänninen & Markkula) and for its historic triumph in the Asia-Pacific Championship (Atkinson & Prevot). With championship titles on two continents, the IRC Championship title and a number of other achievements in international competition, 2012 is one of the most successful years in the 111-year history of the brand's motorsport efforts.

Like every year, the official announcement of the winners of FIA-organised championships of the respective continents and regions was directed by FIA President Jean Todt. "We are really proud of the achievements we've made in international competition this year", says Head of ŠKODA Motorsport Michal Hrabánek. "By winning the championship titles in Europe and Asia, we succeeded in the regions that are of vital importance for ŠKODA. We have put in an excellent performance and demonstrated the high quality of the ŠKODA Fabia Super 2000."

Juho Hänninen & Mikko Markkula have become the most successful crew in the history of ŠKODA's motorsport efforts. Over the four years at ŠKODA Motorsport, they have won the IRC (2010), SWRC (2011) and the European Championship (2012) in a ŠKODA Fabia Super 2000 to become the world's only crew to have won all of these three championships. Hänninen & Markkula won four events of this year's European Championship (Croatia, Belgium, Turkey and the Czech Republic).

Juho Hänninen comments: "We'd like to thank ŠKODA for creating excellent conditions and providing us with a brilliant car they we could always rely on. We have won a large number of events and titles and these have been the best four years of our careers. ŠKODA placed a huge amount of trust in us and gave us a great opportunity". Juho Hänninen and Mikko Markkula (FIN) are leaving ŠKODA Motorsport after spending four years in the team.

Thanks to Chris Atkinson & Stéphane Prevot (AUS/BEL), ŠKODA has won its first titles in the Drivers and Manufacturers categories of the Asia-Pacific Championship (APRC).

Chris Atkinson adds: "We had a top-class car and got excellent support directly from the ŠKODA headquarters. The APRC is a difficult series - the past years had shown how difficult it is to succeed in this championship, and it was a big challenge for us to make it this year. We wish to thank all the people who have contributed to this success".

Atkinson & Prevot won in New Zealand and Australia and finished second in all the other events (except for Japan where they did not appear).

2012 is one of the most successful years in the history of ŠKODA's motorsport efforts:

› The brand won its third consecutive IRC title this year to become the most successful brand in the history of this championship.
› This year also saw a third consecutive victory by a factory crew in a ŠKODA Fabia Super 2000 in the Drivers category (Juho Hänninen & Mikko Markkula in 2010 and Andreas Mikkelsen & Ola Floene in 2011 and 2012).
› Hänninen & Markkula won this year's European Championship and ŠKODA then wrapped up the successful season by winning the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC).
› Jan Kopecký & Pavel Dresler (factory crew) triumphed in the Czech Championship.
› Drivers of ŠKODA Fabia Super 2000s won national rally championship titles in Austria (Raimund Baumschlager), Germany (Mark Wallenwein), Slovenia (Aleks Humar), Turkey (Luca Rossetti) and Bulgaria (Dimitar Iliev).

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