Jan Kopecký's bid to bring the Grande Punto Abarth S2000 its first category victory on a World Rally Championship event has ended in mechanical failure on the first stage of the México Rally.

Jan Kopecký's journey through the Mexican special stages ended after 8 kilometres of the initial special stage after engine failure in his rented Fiat Grande Punto S2000. The engine breakdown not only prevented the crew from continuing on the first stage of Corona Rally México, but on the following stages. It ended abruptly the challenge for a first victory in GpN (the class where the Super2000 Grande Punto Abarth competes in the WRC) on the world stage by the Italian machine.

Following an engine analysis in the service zone it was determined that the engine malfunction under given conditions could not be repaired. A substitute aggregate cannot be installed in the middle of a race and that was the reason why the exotic "Corona Rally México" has misfortunately ended in the initial stage for the crew Jan Kopecký and Petr Starý.

"I was tremendously looking forward to the starting in Mexico. Not only because of the fact that the race in Mexico is my first start of the season, but especially because I was expecting a demanding race in an exotic environment. And I was not let down by reality. The environment is truly exceptional to a European. Special stages are very difficult, but above all for the race cars.

"It was my first start not only in Mexico, but also with my navigator Petr Starý. We have officially gone through introductory rides in Monte Carlo and Sweden, but not until the start in Mexico did we have the opportunity to truly verify our teamwork. We had the opportunity to run tests before the race with the borrowed Fiat Grande Punto S2000 and I have not seen any fundamental problem in the transfer to a car having the S2000 specification. Understandably what is well noticeable in comparison with WRC cars is especially the lesser acceleration of the car when coming out of slower section, and this is why it is necessary to partly change the style of driving.

"I was very curious to compare our performance against production cars and also the world's top who are driving the WRC specification specials. Unfortunately our seized engine has stopped us already on the eighth kilometre of the initial stage and thus we have no comparison available. Our disappointment is understandable. A great thanks goes to our partners, who have made our start in Mexico possible. Especially to Federal Mogul and Fila," said the disappointed drier Jan Kopecký.

"With regards to business interests of Federal Mogul and Fila in the region we had decided to start at the Corona Rally México," said team manager Josef Kopecký. "In order for us to participate we selected the option of renting the Fiat Grande Punto S2000. On Thursday during the official shakedown I was satisfied with the performance of our crew, because Jan has very quickly adapted to the controls of the S2000 specification car and has also well adapted to the local demanding conditions, in spite of the fact that this was this season's first start.

"This is why we entered the initial stage of the Mexican race with high expectations and unfortunately the engine of the borrowed race car has broken down on us on the eighth kilometre right on the initial special stage. The ensuing analysis of the engine damage extent at the service zone has not only confirmed our presumption that the driver played no part in the engine failure, but also the fact that the engine cannot be repaired in the service zone.

"The disenchantment around the withdrawal was of course visible not only on the crew, but also on other members of the team, which has rented us the race car for the Mexican rally. They have vested great hopes into our crew and expected a quality result in the world championship race. Management and mechanics of this team have performed their maximum and they are in no way liable for the technical defect," added the team manager Josef Kopecký.