Jan Kopecky managed to finish twelfth overall on the Wales Rally GB at the weekend, an event that heralded the end of his two-year programme with the Skoda Fabia WRC.
Kopecky has taken in eleven of the 16 events that made up the 2007 FIA World Rally Championship, and while he couldn't score points on the season finale, it was still a pretty good season for the Czech.
Indeed he managed to notch up points on five events in total, including a fantastic fifth place finish on the Rallye Deutschland back in August. He finishes the year joint tenth in the drivers' championship standings, having scored 10 points.
"Of course I am happy about the fact that we were able to finish the Rally GB in conditions, which were extremely difficult," he reflected. "This start gave us much experience for the future.
"This year's Rally GB has ended our two-year co-operation programme with Škoda Auto a.s., which has helped us start with the Skoda Fabia WRC in selected rallies on the world championship circuit. I am very grateful not only to the company in Mladá Boleslav, but also to our other partners, who were helping us throughout this unbelievably difficult programme.
"Huge thanks, which cannot even be expressed in words, belongs to my dad. Without him we would never be able to set off on such a tough journey. I am hopeful that we will have an opportunity to really benefit from all the earned experience in the future."
Kopecky's co-driver, Filip Schovanek also thanked everyone for their support and said that the last two years really have been a dream come true.
"I must admit that sadness dropped over me at the start of the final special stage of the Rally GB. I remembered back to everything that me and Jan and the rest of the crew experienced on this wild ride of the world rally circuit," he continued. "Everyone wants to race in the best league and I had this dream come true.
"For two years we were competing with the absolute world's best. Hopefully we can consider our participation a success. Thank you to team members, especially mechanics, our partners and everyone else, who made it possible for my dream to come true."
