And we always have one of these cars, don't we? The one that pops up suddenly, no info about where it came from and in this case where it is. This car might have had the same story as Peugeot's last 307 WRCs, which were only just completed or half completed chassis'. So this car was likely caught in a bubble with being half ready, and given the numberplate, it fits nicely with ZKL and ZKJ - just it didn't compete till mid 2009! Although no official chassis number is known for this car, it is a guess that it is #18. But anyways, onto the story!
Hir first rally was the Amsterdam Rallysprint with Mark van Eldik - who later competed with KR53 YPP and other Lancers, this was his first taste of the car. He won the rally with it in a very strong field, beating 2006 Focus WRCs and others.
After her maiden rally, she was at the RallyDay at Castle Combe, piloted by none other than former Mitsubishi works driver Alister McRae, who flew back to the UK from his home in Australia to drive for MML.
Her next event was in Latvia, the championship's closing round, the Rally Latvija - Kuldigas Rudens. Her driver was Ivars Vasaraudzis, but after some problems (a small crash, etc) they finished only 5th.
Next up was the Lausitz Rally with Mark van Eldik, who originally debuted the car. Despite Mark not having much experience on gravel, they were able to secure a victory in very difficult conditions.
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| Lausitz Rally 2009 (Nico Meyer / ewrc.cz) |
Her next event was the Condroz Rally with none other than François Duval. They had a couple of quality opponents in strong cars, but François did what he became famous for - crash out in a spectacular way.
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| Condroz Rally 2009: before the crash... |
2011
After that heavy crash, she only returned in 2011 for the Cambrian Rally, with up-and-coming talent Tom Cave. They didn't disappoint despite Tom's young age, and finished 2nd!
Two Czech events followed at the end of the year, the first being the Rally Show Uherský Brod, with her new driver, Martin Březík. They finished 3rd, and with teammate Tlust'ák winning with
KX53 BKO, it was a great weekend for the team.
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| Rally Show Uherský Brod 2011 (Petr Sagner / ewrc.cz) |
Her last recorded start is the Mikuláš Rally, with Jan Štěpánek. Despite Jan's first rally in a WRC that was not a Skoda, they did very well, and only a puncture could get them off a certain podium position, but they still managed to finish 4th.
Whereabouts
After the Mikuláš Rally, the car (or the numberplate) never returned, and to this day this car is a mistery, given that possibly it has no chassis number, etc. It could have been crashed or the shell used for an other car, or it is sitting in a warehouse, waiting for her next deployment (like
KX05 AUR returned after a hefty break).
Track record
Starts: 8
Wins: 2
- Amsterdam Rallysprint 2009
- Lausitz Rally 2009
Podiums:
4
- Amsterdam Rallysprint 2009
- Lausitz Rally 2009
- Cambrian Rally 2011
- Rally Show Úherský Brod 2011
Retirements: 1
- Rallye du Condroz-Huy 2009 (crash)
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