Thanks to his victory at Rally Pačejov, Jan Kopecký secured a record-breaking eleventh title in the Czech Rally Championship. In the final round of the six-event series, the title was still up for grabs, with Austrian driver Simon Wagner in contention. But Kopecký delivered a dominant performance at the wheel of his Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 and celebrated in style.
Although Jan Kopecký has won three out of five races in the Czech championship so far, the title was still undecided before the final Invelt Rally Pačejov. The 43-year-old driver needed to finish at least second in Pačejov on the weekend of September 20 and 21 in case his Austrian challenger Wagner were to take the win.
Kopecký left nothing to chance, even though the rally initially promised a dramatic duel. On Saturday’s opening stages, the rivals were separated by mere tenths of a second. Wagner took the first test by two-tenths, before Kopecký hit back in SS2, edging his rival by a single tenth. It wasn’t until the third stage that Kopecký pulled clear, putting five seconds into the Austrian and seizing the rally lead – one he would never relinquish.
In the end, Wagner wasn’t even his closest rival on the timesheets. That honour went to Filip Mareš, who kept the pressure on until the finish. The final classification read Kopecký, Mareš, Wagner – ironically, the exact opposite order that Wagner would have needed to snatch the title. Mareš finished just 6.4 seconds behind Kopecký, while Wagner trailed the new champion by over half a minute.
“Pačejov turned out the best way possible for us – with a win and the championship title,” Kopecký said at the finish. “We drove flawlessly all weekend, without mistakes, and with a clear head. I want to thank my family, the team, and Jirka for the support. And of course, big thanks to Škoda – our Fabia RS Rally2 was fast and faultless.” said satisfied Jan Kopecký at the finish line.
Co-driver Jiří Hovorka also had plenty to celebrate, having completed his debut season alongside Kopecký: “Honza is back on the Czech rally throne, and I’m proud to be part of it. Forming a new crew at the start of the year and then winning Barum Rally plus the national title in our first season together is just amazing.”
With this year’s triumph, Jan Kopecký now holds a record eleven Czech rally championship titles – all of them achieved in Škoda cars. The story began back in 2004 with a Fabia WRC win. His next crown came in 2012 with the Fabia S2000. Between 2015 and 2018, he dominated with the Fabia R5, before taking another title in 2019 with the upgraded Fabia R5 evo. In 2021 and 2022, he added two more with the Fabia Rally2 evo, and finally in 2023 and again in 2025, he conquered the championship in the current Škoda Fabia RS Rally2.
