WRC news in brief

A round-up of the stories that are making the news in the WRC today:

A round-up of the stories that are making the news in the WRC today:
Robert Kubica has confirmed that fellow Pole Maciej Szczepaniak will act as his co-driver for his first full season in the World Rally Championship.
The new pair worked together for the first time at last weekend’s Jannerally in Austria, and got off to a good start, winning the event by 19.9 seconds.
Szczepaniak, 40, is Poland’s most experienced WRC co-driver and began his career in 1999 with a four-year stint alongside Tomasz Kuchar. Since 2007 his WRC outings have been with Michael Kosciuszko.
The pair will test their Lotos-supported M-Sport Ford Fiesta RS WRC car this week in France before making their WRC debut together at Rallye Monte-Carlo.
Kubica’s former co-driver Maciek Baran retired late last year, after the pair won the WRC 2 championship. Michele Ferrara was drafted in for Wales Rally GB, but after a crash prone performance Kubica admitted the change to Italian pace notes didn’t work out.
The success of November’s Wales Rally GB has promoted the Welsh government to pledge a multi-million pound support package for the 2014 and 2015 editions.
Organisers said last year’s move to a new base in north Wales attracted record crowds and helped make the event one of the most successful to date.
Welsh Economy Minister Edwina Hart said: “Wales Rally GB is one of our flagship events which gets worldwide coverage so I am particularly pleased that efforts to revitalise the event and attract more spectators and entries are paying off.”
The Welsh Government will provide up to £1.5m per annum to support the staging of the Rally this year and next.
Wales Rally GB boss Andrew Coe said he was “ absolutely delighted” for the on-going commitment from the Welsh Government. “What's more we now also have the fillip of a top Welsh driver, Elfyn Evans, competing in a front-running world championship team and that's another major boost both for Wales Rally GB and the sporting scene in Wales," he added.

wrc.com