Having won the opening stage at Rally Sanremo, Skoda Motorsport duo Jan Kopecky and Petr Stary began last month's penultimate Intercontinental Rally Challenege round with hopes of taking the drivers' title.

Unfortunately, the highly anticipated duel between Kopecky and championship rival Kris Meeke ended early: on the second stage Kopecky damaged the rear-left wheel suspension of his Fabia S2000 by touching a wall and was forced to retire from the race as a consequence.

Meeke went on to collect enough points to secure the 2009 IRC drivers' crown, while Kopecky will end the season as the runner-up.

"Obviously, I am disappointed now because we started very well but then I made a small mistake that one simply mustn't make," Kopecky said. "I am still very happy about our results in our first year and very satisfied with our Fabia Super 2000, too."

Michal Hrabanek, the head of Skoda Motorsport, felt philosophical: "The ambitions of our team were certainly higher than the result, but it's sport, you can't win all the time.

"Nevertheless, taking part in this event was a good experience that we will definitely appreciate some time later," he added, hinting at future ambitions.