Autosportfoto

Štajf secures ŠKODA switch after ERC success

Vojtěch Štajf has stepped up to a ŠKODA Fabia R5 for 2016 and will be seen back in the FIA European Rally Championship later in the year.

Štajf was runner-up in the ERC2 standings last season, which turned out to be the end of an 11-year association with Subaru. In a new project called Racing 21 that he has formed with Czech billionaire mathematician and philanthropist Karel Janeček, Štajf will step up to R5 machinery in the Czech Rally Championship.

His Fabia will be run under the Klokočka ŠKODA Czech National Team banner after also joining forces with Jan Klokočka, a former rally driver who is now one of the biggest ŠKODA dealers in the Czech Republic. Their deal comes 30 years after Štajf had a ride in Klokočka's rally car at the age of 12.

Štajf's programme in the Fabia R5 will include his home ERC round, Barum Czech Rally Zlín on 26-28 August, and a full ERC return is possible in the future.

He said: "At first we were thinking only about one start with R5 car. But thanks to comprehension of Karel Janeček and Jan Klokočka we were able to start with a more ambitious programme. To be able to fight for the best places will be for me and my co-driver František Rajnoha an attractive continuing of our career."

Pictured front from left to right are Štajf, Rajnoha and Janeček.

Zdroj: fiaerc.com