Skoda privateer, Jan Kopecky equalled his best ever finish in the WRC on the Rallye Deutschland at the weekend, when he brought his Fabia WRC car home in fifth place overall.

Kopecky was running in the points pretty much throughout and during the event he set a number of a competitive stage times.

Indeed he was in the top ten in every single test, bar one, and rose to the challenge on the final day when he was battling with Toni Gardemeister and Petter Solberg, setting two fifth best times and a seventh in the final three stages. He eventually beat Petter, who was sixth in the works Subaru, by 7.6 seconds.

“I am happy that we were able to finish the Rallye Deutschland in an excellent fifth place. The rally was not simple at all and we had to drive very fast right from the start all the way to the finish line,” said the Czech, who has now increased his tally to date to eight points from eight events.

“We were able to fend off the attack by our competitors in Sunday's leg and while running at a very high pace, we were still able to avoid mistakes.

“I enjoyed the rally very much, because we were battling with the top drivers' throughout all three legs. Neither one of us could ease off, because the other drivers would immediately take advantage of any of each other's hesitations.

“We have completed a beautiful and dramatic rally, from which we've gained the maximum possible. We were going to Germany with a clear objective, which was to finish in a scored position.

"We accomplished the objective as a team, which performed a perfect job starting with the test before the rally all the way up to the final service.”

Czech Rally Team-Kopecky team manager, Josef Kopecky meanwhile praised the job done by Jan and his co-driver, Filip Schovanek: “First I would like to thank to all, who had their share in our start in the Rallye Deutschland. We wanted to come home from this rally with some points and the team did the maximum to secure our success,” he added.

“Jan and Filip started at a high pace right from the first special stage, without which we'd have no chance of success. The fifth place is in no way a coincidental result.

“Jan and Feilip flawlessly handled the attacks from the competitors, who only kept picking up the pace on Sunday. In spite of that they did not make any mistakes and along with the top job performed by the entire team they fully deserve this result. They have clearly confirmed their rightful place among the world's best,” he summed-up.