'Silver medal' for Czech star in Portugal.
Jan Kopecky took the runners-up spot on the Rally de Portugal last weekend, his second outing in the 2008 Intercontinental Rally Challenge.
Kopecky, who had finished day one in fourth place, gained two more spots on the second leg when Nicolas Vouilloz lost time with a puncture and Francois Duval was forced out in SS10 with a wheel bearing failure.
That promoted Jan to second and he eventually finished 45.8 seconds off the winner, Luca Rossetti and a similar amount up on Vouilloz, who had to settle for the final place on the rostrum.
Speaking at the finish the Czech was delighted to take 'silver', especially as the weather was so unpredictable: "Second place is an excellent result, which did not come about easily," he explained. "Today we made mistakes in tyre selection for both sections, and that is why I could not attack.
"In the morning section we selected a mixture that was too soft and on the contrary in the afternoon it was too hard, because the weather cooled down due to unexpected rain showers.
"At the service the weather was sunny and there was no indication of possible rain and this is what very much complicated the right selection. Locally the rain was very strong and the visibility was extremely low.
"The car ran to my satisfaction and I am very glad that only in our second IRC race we were able to get up on the podium. It is a great success for all of the members of Motorsport Kopecký team, who did their best to achieve good result. I was very pleased by the presence of Czech fans along the special stages too and in the service zone. I value their support very much."
Motorsport Kopecky team boss Josef Kopecký meanwhile was also pleasedk with the result and combined with Jan's fifth place finish on the Istanbul Rally back in April, it takes his tally to 12 points and puts him third in the IRC drivers' standings.
"I am very happy with this second place," he added. "The finish of the rally was not at all easy, because the weather - it kept continuously changing and it was tough to evaluate why some of the drivers had a faster or slower time. It was all dependent on the rain and if someone was caught by a shower or not.
"Of course we were wishing for a finish on the podium during our participation in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, but I did not expect that we will be as successful this early - and on gravel.
"The crew and the team have turned in a precise job and they deserve my utmost respect."
