Continental to Acquire 51 Percent of Matador Rubber Group

MATADORLIFE
SPRING 2007 NEWSLETTER of the MATADOR Group
Continental to Acquire 51
Percent of Matador Rubber
Group
STRATEGIC MOVE
STRENGTHENS
TIES TO A HIGHLY
SUCCESSFUL JOINT
VENTURE PARTNER
- EXPANSION OF
OPERATIONAL AND
PRODUCTION
BASE IN EASTERN
EUROPE.
Continental AG, Hanover, is set to acquire
a 51 percent stake in the rubber business
of Matador Group, Puchov, Slovakia, subject
to the approval of antitrust authorities.
„With this move we are strengthening our
ties to our highly successful joint venture
partner. At the same time we are expanding
our operational base in Eastern Europe
markets as well as our production
capacities for PLT in low-cost countries,“
said Continental’s Executive Board chairman
Manfred Wennemer. Continental (76
percent) and Matador (24 percent) have
been aligned in a joint venture for the
production of truck tires in Puchov since
1998. The two parties agreed not to disclose
the details of the agreement, including
the financial volume.
(Continuation on p. 2)
REVENUES OF THE PNEUBOX NETWORK EXCEEDED
TWO BILLION SLOVAK CROWNS IN THE PAST YEAR
A multibrand business network PNEUBOX
achieved in the past year in Slovakia, the Czech
Republic and Hungary revenues from the sales
of goods and services in the amount of 2.26
billion SKK (60,67 million EUR). Pre-tax profit
(EBITDA) for the first year from network rebranding
is 54 million SKK (1,45 million EUR).
An international business-service network
PNEUBOX, the 100% owner of which is the
group MATADOR, sold in the first year of its
operation 56% of goods of the brand MATA-
DOR; remaining 44 per cent comprise of other
product brands.
A look on the structure of revenues of the
brand MATADOR demonstrates that the most
sold goods were passenger radial tyres (PRT).
They created almost half of the revenues
(48%) within the sales of the products of the
Slovak tyre producer. Almost one third of revenues
of the MATADOR brand are represented
by the sale of truck tyres (31%), 16 per
cent light truck tyres and less than three per
cents represent revenues from the sale of OFF
ROAD and SUV tyres.
(Continuation on p.7)
1
Matador to Supply Machinery
Worth SKK 385 million to
Chinese Triangle
Matador Machinery, acting on behalf of its
tyre-making parent company Matador in Puchov
(Trenčín region), has signed a deal with
Chinese company Triangle to supply it with
ten PC2 tire-making machines worth SKK
385 million (11.33 million EUR). Triangle is
understood to have already purchased these
machines from Matador Machinery in the
past. „With this contract, Matador has confirmed
its important position among Slovak
exporters,“ said Matador group spokesman
Dusan Koblisek. Last year, the Matador Group
generated revenues of SKK 16.86 billion,
an increase of 7.6 percent on the previous
year.
Stop at the PNEUBOX
in spring
New campaign of the business network
PNEUBOX began at the end of March. It is focused
on changing winter tyres to summer
tyres, sale of aluminium disks, sale and
change of motor oils. Customers will be happy
about many price reductions.
“We have prepared a really large campaign.
A customer can find tyres of high quality in
various sizes for really special prizes, which
will be assembled by real professionals”,
says manager of the retail network Juraj Madejski.
(Continuation on p.2)
Lechner plans to win
the Porsche Supercup,
with Rosina
Štefan Rosina, a young Slovak
talent and driver for
the Matador Motorsport
team, will this year represent
the Slovak flag in the
Porsche Supercup 2007. In
this prestigious series,
which is an accompanying
event to the F1 race, he
will compete for the Austrian professional
Lechner Racing team.
“To test his skills, our team initially invited Štefan
Rosina to the Hungaroring. Those tests turned
out very well, beyond our expectations,
(Continuation on p. 8)

Continental to Acquire
51 Percent of Matador
Rubber Group
(Finishing from p. 1)
In 2006 Matador Group had 4,770 employees
and posted sales of approx. €450 million.
“With this strategic alliance we will further
improve the quality and volume of Matador
tire production, open new markets and increase
the value of the Matador brand. We
are, moreover, also strengthening our position
in Automotive - our second strategic
business. After excellent experiences with
our truck tire joint venture, we are sure that
this partnership will be the best solution for
the future of Matador and also for our employees,”
said Štefan Rosina, CEO of the Matador
Rubber Group.
“In combining forces and experience, we will
improve our market positions in Central and
Eastern Europe and get additional sales opportunities
in Russia, Ukraine and the Stan
States. Especially our position in Russia will
be expanded, as we are not only improving
our access to the market but getting a production
facility in Omsk as well,” Wennemer
emphasized.
“Operationally we intend to integrate Matador
into our brand portfolio and invest in expanding
annual production capacities for PLT
from 5.5 to more than 7 million. This gives us
a highly efficient tool to be used against
low-cost competition.” Wennemer added.
The Matador machinery factory in Puchov
will be integrated into the machinery factory
in Hanover-Stöcken as a second pillar. On top
of that, Continental gets additional capacities
for research and development.
The ContiTech Conveyor Belt Group also
stands to benefit from the acquisition. “Adding
Matador’s business to ours makes sense
strategically,” said Gerhard Lerch, member
of Continental’s Executive Board and responsible
for the ContiTech division. “The
company is very well-positioned in the Eastern
Europe.” With a workforce of 160, Matador
manufactures a wide range of textile
belts in Slovakia. The ContiTech Conveyor
Belt Group has eight locations in Chile, China,
Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, and Mexico.
With its approximately 2,700 employees,
it posted sales of €379 million in 2006.
The Continental Corporation is a leading automotive
supplier of brake systems, chassis
components, vehicle electronics, tires and
technical elastomers. In 2006 the corporation
realized sales of EUR14.9 billion. At present
it has a worldwide workforce of around
85,000.
Stop at the PNEUBOX
in spring
(Finishing from p. 1)
Miracle called nanotechnology
Among the aluminium disks the PNEUBOX recommends
especially DEZENT A, because of
nanotechnology used for surface finishing. It
means that they were varnished by special
substance, repulsive against dirt, water or oil
drops. They simply fall of the disk. Disks are
therefore more resistant against impurities,
damages and are easier to clean. “We have
prepared markers for our customer, so they
can draw on disks and become convinced
that this “miracle” is true,” says Madejski.
Furthermore, aluminium disks DEZENT A are
sold for excellent prices only in the PNEUBOX
network.
Oil packages
This special business network prepared for
drivers also another interesting thing in the
form of “packages”, which includes motor oil
Madit, changing of the oil and filter - all for
excellent prices. Since not all business points
of the PNEUBOX offer changing of oil, the
customers will get price reduction from the
price of the package at the points without
this service.
Extended guarantee – new customer
programme
Enumeration of advantages of the visit in the
PNEUBOX NITRA –
ONE OF THE MOST
UP-TO-DATE PNEU-
SERVICES IN THE
CENTRAL EUROPE
One of the most up-to-date tyre services in
the Central Europe has been opened and Pneubox
can be proud of it! Come in, we are pleased
to welcome you in Nitra!
After improving its position in Martin, the Pneubox
fulfilled another promise and opened
great business premises in Nitra. “We have
prepared for customers a beautiful glass twofloor
complex consisting of retail shop, service
and business office. Exclusive shop is separated
from the tyre service by glass, so that
customers can see their cars and at the same
time they are prevented from injuries,” says I.
Valko, the director of the Pneubox business
network in Slovakia, contentedly. “New business
premises in Nitra are within the line of
establishment of key areas from the point of
our business. Nitra is a big catchment area; it
is a region with sufficient number of inhabitants,
many car sellers and forwarding agencies.
I do not hide expectations from this busi-
2
MATADORLIFE
Pneubox does not terminate here. With the
beginning of summer season this business
networks begins with a new programme for
customers called EXTENDED GUARANTEE. It
refers to a special guarantee for selected tyres
of the brand MATADOR purchased at the
PNEUBOX network, in case of unintended
and irrecoverable mechanical damages. It is
a gratuitous service provided outside the legitimate
guarantee. It is not limited by number
of kilometres. It reduces operational costs
of tyres and extends their service life.
Other services for you
As every season, motorist will find nice atmosphere,
daily press and drinks at the Pneubox
as part of the provision of services.
They may store the winter tyres here – treated
and properly stored they will be ready for
another winter. Furthermore, wheels will be
cleaned in a wheelwash. The aim is to provide
quality and to remove dirt and grease carefully,
thus reducing investments to e.g.
equalization. Service life of a tyre can be extended
also by proper pumping of a tyre by
Secur pneus compound, which secures equal
pressure of all tyres, increases comfort of drive
and reduces fuel consumption.
And more…
The first 500 customers, who purchase 4 pcs
of tyres of the brand MATADOR MP 43 AQUILLA
EVO will obtain brand waterproof wristwatch
Slazenger - for free!
ness premises.” Also in this case the Pneubox
has a very favourable position. There is an
easy entrance to and from the tyre service,
which will be appreciated by drivers with passenger
cars as well as trucks.
“In Nitra we provide complex tyre services for
passenger cars, SUV vehicles and trucks as
well as agro and construction mechanisms
supplemented by car-service as e.g. control
and adjustment of geometry, setting of lights,
oil change and cleaning of air-conditioning.
We have extended opening hours during working
days (from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.) and on Saturday
(from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.) and I am convinced
that we will not disappoint our customers,“
says I. Valko.

MATADORLIFE
TEST OF THE AUTO MOTO A ŠPORT: MP 46 HECTORRA 2
FROM MATADOR WAS EVALUATED AS „RECOMMENDED“
The new tyre MP 46 HECTORRA 2 from the
Slovak producer – the company Matador
– achieved very good results in an independent
test of the magazine Auto Motor
a Šport. After testing of various driving
properties, the experts categorised this
tyre into the category “recommended”.
The comparative test demonstrated, that
among its best properties are low rolling
resistance and short braking distance on
wet and dry surfaces. This tyre was also
one of the best in handling.
Very good handling on wet and dry surfaces,
good braking, acceptable noise level on
good surfaces and solid springing comfort,”
this general statement expressed Slovak experts
from the magazine Auto Motor a Šport
in connection to the Slovak tyre HECTORRA 2
on the basis of the test results. According to
experts, the Matador tread pattern demonstrated
balanced characteristics in all tests
on dry and wet surfaces. The only weak
point is aquaplaning, and in near future this
will be an inspiration for developers of Matador
in order to achieve improvement.
Ten tyres of the HP and UHP segment from
different world producers were compared in
the mentioned test. They were tested on
the Škoda Octavia RS vehicle and the guarantor
of correct measurements was an independent
certified company Vipotest.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MP 46
HECTORRA 2 TYRE:
The MATADOR tyre with its trade name MP
46 HECTORRA 2 is the second generation of
summer high performance asymmetric tyre
designed for the operation of passenger vehicles
in the most demanding tyre segment
Points again for Matador tyres and the 2nd placed
team in the Budapest-Bamako rally
235/85 R 16 MP 75 WISENTTA 4x4 M/T
Sport Extra version tyres from the Slovak
manufacturer Matador, contributed
to the excellent positioning of the TBA
Matador Racing team in the Budapest-
Bamako rally. Tomáš Baráti and Tibor
Harman in the Isuzu Rodeo finished
this challenging race in second place
thanks also to these excellent sports
tyres from Matador.
The TBA Matador Racing team did not finish
the race in first place due to a technical
failure with their car. The petrol tank
on their car got punctured only three stages
before the end of the event and the
unfortunate team got stuck in the desert
only three kilometres before the finish.
The rally, attended by more than 100 teams
from several countries around the
world, was 8,760 kilometres long. The
race started halfway through January in
Budapest and the drivers gradually drove
through Hungary, Austria, Italy, France and
Spain to Morocco on the African continent
and further across the Western Sahara,
Mauritania and Mali, to the finish in Bamako.
The race was attended by 108 teams
from Canada, USA, Great Britain, Germany,
Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary,
Croatia, Byelorussia, Russia and India.
Last year, the same type of tyres also
3
– ULTRA HIGH PERFORMANCE. This new tyre
will be launched within the complete assortment
of sizes for the summer season 2008.
MP 46 HECTORRA tread pattern is designed
for the operation of vehicles of high and luxury
class with the highest performance during
summer. Its designation for driving high
performance vehicles at increased speeds is
secured by excellent braking properties and
reliable handling on wet and dry surfaces as
well as high resistance against aquaplaning.
Safety of operation of high-performance vehicles
is one of the most important criteria
of size dimensioning of this tread pattern
series.
In comparison to its predecessor MP45, the
asymmetric type of tread pattern of this
new up-to-date concept provides demanding
and sport-oriented drivers with improved
handling and safety on dry and wet
road surfaces.
Matador will launch in total 15 sizes of the
MP 46 Hectorra 2 tread pattern in 16” to 20”
sizes within the highest speed categories:
V up to 240 km/h, W up to 270 km/h. and
Y up to 300 km/h.
brought success to the Slovak team – Jozef
Sýkora and Marek Sýkora, in individual
national cross country rallies. In the Baja
competition series, MP 75 WISENTTA Sport
Extra tyres helped the Matador Motorsport
team to gain the title of Vice-champions
of Europe.

It is at home in demanding
terrain
– MP 75 WISENTTA
4x4 M/T
Specially designed high-resistance OFF
ROAD tread pattern designated for off
road vehicles, for extreme driving on
difficult, non-stable, heterogeneous
grounds. The tread pattern is intended
for the real fans of driving on a difficult
ground. It is suitable for the operation in
the following ratio: 80% off road and
20% road surfaces. The pronounced arm
blocks and overall robustness of the tread
pattern ensure the excellent passage
through different types of difficult surfaces,
e.g. wading across mountain streams
and passage through sharp rocks.
The large depth of the tread pattern provides
the increased passability even in
a soft terrain.
Reinforced protection of sidewalls and
shoulder parts improves endurance against
punctures also in the most demanding
terrain. The large depth of the tread
pattern provides the increased passability
even in a soft terrain. The tyre
has also excellent self-cleaning abilities,
appreciated by fans of driving in muddy,
gravel or unstable terrain.
The European vice-masters in Cross Country
Rally, Jozef and Marek Sýkora also
use Wisentta tyres. According to them,
these tyres are comparable to the world
competition, and were a great support
for them during the Baja competition
last year. “We had every confidence in
Matador Wisentta Sport Extra tyres, and
they did not disappoint us,” says Jozef
Sýkora, the pilot of the Slovak crew.
The test of the MP 71 IZZARDA 265/70 R
16 112 H tyres started on the European
continent, in the capital city of Catalonia,
in Barcelona. In Europe, they completed
2000 km. “The cars were fully loaded
with the luggage of four persons and
the necessary equipment for the rally
as well as 300 litres of fuel. The total
weight of the vehicle was about 3000
kg. On the highway they were extremely
silent compared to the tyres form
the competitor we were using previously.
The acceleration and braking were
very good. On a scale from 1-10 my satisfaction
is rated 8,” said Sujit Angello
Das, Tibau Team Manager.
Another 6000 km waited for the team in
Africa. Most of the Morocco assistance
track was on good tarmac roads starting
from Tanger through Errachidia, Ouarzazate
to Tan Tan. On January 10th the team
started the real African road conditions,
starting a route of 720 km from Tan Tan to
Zouerat. The assistance vehicles shared
4
MATADORLIFE
IZZARDA TYRES MANAGED
THE DEMANDING LISBON – DAKAR RALLY
the same track as the race cars. “All crew
members have to wear helmets for security
reasons. The gravel track was extremely
wet due to heavy rain falls in
the past days and we were able to test
the tyres in muddy conditions. We were
very surprised to have such a good steering
response and stability. The drive
was fun and we felt like we were really
in the race,“ says Sujit Angello Das. The
second half of the track was very sandy.
Crews deflated the tyres and once again
enjoyed the fantastic steering response
and traction on the Mauritanian dunes.
“We had absolutely no problems and
not a single car got stuck in the dunes.
On a scale from 1-10, I rate the tyres
9.”
According to crew members, entering
black Africa roads in our terms of understanding
stop to exist. The tracks were
very stony, rough and very often there
were no roads at all. In these conditions it
is very easy to get a puncture or destroy

MATADORLIFE
completely the tyres, rims or even the
suspension. “It is absolutely incredible
that none of our three cars got a single
puncture in these conditions. The Izzarda
tyres very well absorbed the bad
conditions of the road and the rubber
did not suffer very much. The Izzarda
A mass of sand, blazing sun and uneven
terrain. All of that was prepared to
test the members of the Libya 2007 expedition
that recently ended with their
return home. The expedition attendants,
six Czechs and Slovaks, drove
more than 8 thousand kilometres on
various types of terrain and in various
extreme climate conditions. They managed
to conquer such difficult terrain,
driving Land Rover Defender cars shod
with MATADOR MP 71 IZZARDA A/T tyres,
which were put under real strain
during the journey.
“We consider it a great success that, during
the entire journey, which measured
more than 8 thousand kilometres, twice
only did we have to repair a puncture on
three cars. The tyres acquitted themselves
really well, whether by the quality of their
cord, correct balance of rigidity of the rubber
compound, good steering with extreme
under-inflation, and last but not least
by the well-designed thread pattern. Moreover,
on the way back home we were
surprised by a snow storm in the Austrian
Alps, so we also managed to test the tyres
in snow conditions”, says Aleš Vašíček,
one of the members of the expedition.
The expedition began with a fast transit
through Europe and was followed by embarkation
on a ferry heading towards Tunis.
It took us 24 hours to reach the African
continent. “When leaving home, nobody
really knew what to expect during next
few weeks. We realized what the real Africa
is like as late as when we passed
through Tunis, entered Libya and saw the
first dune field,. Everything that we had
experienced on our journeys up to now,
was scant preparation to what was to
come”, Vašíček said as he described his
first impressions. According to his words,
the expedition was lucky to be assigned
a desert guide. “At home we couldn’t
even imagine that we were about to go to
places where GPS, detailed maps or other
latest technical equipment would be no
help to us. Navigation in these places es-
tyre with its design and performance
meets all my expectation for a very
good All Terrain Tyre and I will definitely
recommend it for all assistance vehicles
for the next Dakar,” concludes Sujit
Angello Das, Tibau Team Manager.
MP 71 IZZARDA tyres went through
a baptism of fire
pecially follows an instinct that a man has
to be born with. We were lucky to meet
such a man, “old desert wolf” Suleiman
(58). A man who spent ten years in the Libya
army and has since earned his living
exclusively by navigating the desert.”
According to the members of the expedition,
describing the drive through such
a mass of sand is as difficult as describing
the Aurora Borealis. “You can tell the truth
and create an impression of kitsch, or try
to talk realistically and not catch the substance”,
Vašíček explains. According to his
words, the driving technique was most
important, as well as using the kinetic
energy of the vehicle and moving as smoothly
as possible, while not braking and
also avoiding sharp manoeuvres. “We had
to start from the top of one dune so that
the speed carried our Land Rover exactly
to the top of the other dune, where we
had to carefully stop, get over the peak
and with some thought continue further,
following the same pattern”. Dune fields
alternated with flat rocky areas called
“Hammadas”, which formed the unpleasant
part of the trip. The wind was blowing
non-stop and was creating a deformed
and wavy road surface. “The only way not
to shake the soul out of the vehicle and its
crew was to stamp on the accelerator and
maintain a higher speed until better terrain
or even worse rocks, appeared.”
On the European highways, the IZZARDA
tyres were inflated to a pressure of about
5
2.5 bar, on the hammadas to about 2.5
bar and in the dunes to about 1 bar. In extreme
cases of soft sand known as “feshfesh”,
the vehicle’s crews had to deflate
the tyres down to 0.6 bar.
“After such testing areas, with fully loaded
four-wheel drive expedition vehicles
riding on dry, wet and snowy asphalt,
sharp rocks, sand and dust, we have to
state that the Matador IZZARDA tyres stood
up to the task with perfect results and
we can only recommend them,” Says Aleš
Vašíček, a member of the expedition.
The Libya 2007 expedition set off on their
journey through Africa exactly 74 years
after the Aerosperox expedition, which
came through the Libyan Desert on cars
made by the aviation factory Aero-Aerosperox.
At that time, the expedition used
a miniature roadster with a two-cylinder
engine that had an unbelievable capacity
of 0.662 ccm.
MP 71 IZZARDA 4x4
A/T tyre - balanced
in all aspects
A well-proven tyre for 4x4 vehicles used in
road and terrain operation. The tyre MP 71 IZ-
ZARDA provides the balanced performance
when driving on road (60%) and off the road
(40%), it is characterised by improved performance
on dusty and gravel roads. Another large
advantage of this tyre is the excellent grip
on dry and wet surface, at the observance of
the low level of noise. The qualities of this tyre
are also proved by their success in international
tests that were published in Europe in the
international motorist magazines Autobild and
Auto Motor and Sport.
From the point of view of the use, it is specially
recommended for the owners of SUV vehicles
who expect balanced utility and driving
qualities on various surfaces: dusty roads, asphalt,
mud, snow, ice and sand.
In the development of MP 71 IZZARDA the latest
available research knowledge was used.
The tyre consists of two bearing carcass plies,
two steel cord breakers, a third spirally wound
breaker and a reinforced sidewall. The tyre
profile is optimized for equal distribution of
the specific pressure in the track, which results
in equal tread wear, good mileage and high
safety of driving on various road surfaces.

SUCCESSFUL TEST OF A NEW
SPORT TYRE
The Matador Company completed another
successful test of the SM-20 sport tyre. This
time there were tested SM-20 tyres of the
size 200/650 R18. There were tested various
construction variants. The experts of the
Matador Motorsport have chosen for the
production a tyre, which stood the test the
best.
This time the testing was performed by Master
of the Czech Republic in Rally and winner of the
last year Rally Matador Tatry - Václav Pech with
his racing vehicle Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX as a
testing vehicle. “The tested tyre demonstrated
very good driving properties and convinced me
that it is reliable also when driving at high speeds.
Furthermore, it also had very good times,“
says Pech in connection to the test results.
“We are glad that we can introduce also this
size of sport tyre to the production, which in
comparison to its predecessor SM-2 had faster
acceleration by almost 1 second per kilometre,”
says Peter Novosad, the head of the Matador
Motorsport, who also revealed that Václav Pech
will start with this new tyre at upcoming Rallye
Matador Tatry 2007. It means that drivers, who
decide for this tyre, will be able to achieve very
good results in a competition.
Matador Motorsport tested new tyre in Běla
pod Bezdědem in the Czech Republic – on the
same place where Jan Kopecký, driver of the
Matador Motorsport in the serial World Rallye
Championship, tests his tyres.
MATADOR TESTED THE NEW
15” COMPETITION TYRE
Shortly before the start of the Matador Cup,
the company Matador introduced the new
competition tyre SM-20 of the size 15”.
A pattern of the tyre Matador 180/580 R15
SM-20 is similar to the tyre of the size 17”,
with which Václav Pech, the Czech champion
in rally, won last season.
The tyre with the SM-20 tread pattern replaces
the previous model SM-2 and on the basis of
tests and speed tests it demonstrates unambiguous
improvement of driving properties in
comparison to SM-2.
Matador Motorsport tested the new tyre on
the part of the speed test “Hvozdná” around
Zlín in two different compounds: R3 – medium-hard
and R5 – hard. Chosen section was
suitable in particular for its asphalt surface,
where was verified the service life of tyres.
The organization of this test was a responsibility
of Miroslav Jandík, the driver of the Matador
Motorsport, who will participate this year
in the Championship of the Slovak Republic in
rally with new automobile Mitsubishi Lancer
EVO IX. “We secured the first test of this new
tyre in cooperation with Matador; this tyre is
designed for vehicles similar to Honda Civic
Vti, which we borrowed from the driver Tomáš
Marek for the purposes of testing. Drivers Jaromír
Tarabus, Tomáš Marek and Jan Jelínek
changed behind the wheel during the tests
and were able to compare the Matador tyre
with competition; Jan Jelínek used his experience
with tyres of the Slovak producer from
the last season. He ended up on the second,
silver place at the Matador Cup. During the
tests the technicians of the Matador measured
and analysed in particular temperature,
pressure and wear and tear of the tyre.”
The test confirmed that similarly as in case
of 17” sizes, the competition tyres of the
brand Matador will be competitive and drivers
using them will be able to achieve
high-quality results.
“I am glad I could test these new tyres as
one of the first people and I will be pleased
to participate also to other tests of tyres of
this brand. With Matador 180/580 R15 SM-
20 I plan to participate to the whole Championship
of the Czech Republic in rally,” says
Tomáš Marek, the Czech driver.
Technicians of the Matador will introduce
another sport tyre in April, which will follow
the 17“ size of the tread pattern SM-10 – intermedia,
thus completing the whole 15“
series designed for rally. Apart from this,
other new tyres will be introduced at the
Rally Matador Tatry 2007 in April, in particular
sizes 200/650 R18 and 190/620 R17 of
tread pattern SM 20 and SM 10.
A unique advantage of the Matador sport tyres
is homologation “E”, which means that
these tyres can also be used in ordinary operation.
6
MATADORLIFE
THIS YEAR, MATADOR
TESTED WINTER TYRES
AT TÁLE
The second year of the “Matador Winter
Grip” event this year took place in the Low
Tatra Mountains, at Tále. This time, Matador
tyres were again tested on difficult,
snowy terrain, even though the weather
was not at all conducive to this event.
Temperatures above zero and rain in the
days leading up to the event complicated
the well-prepared terrain, but the organizers
found a solution so that the tyres
were able to be tested in the end on snow
and ice. Participants at the event had the
opportunity to experience interesting, and
certainly also fun, adrenaline attractions
with the test cars, which this year included
vehicles from Mercedes, Škoda, Seat,
Jeep, KIA and Honda.
NORDICCA tyres were this time tested on
difficult terrain. The test drives included
slalom, road circuit and off-road routes.
Guests at the event and journalists from
around Europe had the opportunity to
show their skills by driving and mastering
the difficult terrain in a timed slalom. In
the opinion of the test participants, the
tyres managed to master any traps and
obstructions to an excellent degree. Foreign
experts from the media in the Czech
Republic, Croatia, Great Britain, Germany
and Russia, were also satisfied.
The event’s program did not, however,
only include test drives, but also many
other attractions for the participants of
Matador Winter Grip 2007, particularly
dog-teams, a grill party, fire show, evening
skiing and snow-tubing.
This year’s Matador Winter Grip 2007 was
divided into two parts. The first one took
place during 16 – 18 February and was organized
for journalists from around Europe
and for the business partners of the
M-Machinery and M-Rubber Research Institute
divisions, and the second one during
18 – 21 February for the business
partners of the M-Pneu division.

MATADORLIFE
Kubok Matadora
The traditional races “Kubok Matadora“
took place last weekend (24/02/2007) in
Omsk; it was a part of the Siberian series of
races on icy oval, organized in Omsk by
Aleksander Fabricius and supported by the
company Matador.
This adrenaline sport on the oval of Omsk
Hippodrome was for the forth time organized
as the Matador Cup and as always, also
this year the company Matador had its representation
there.
Within the team of our business partner -
master of sport Pavol Santonkin, were also
our racers – Miroslav Rosina, Vice-president
for Foreign Affairs and Chairman of the Board
of the Matador Group and Dušan Koblišek,
spokesman of the Matador Group. Both
were racing with honour - in five moving
offs they completed not only compulsory
“hours” and snow barriers, but also achieved
three “očki” – points for the third place
in the moving offs mentioned above, completed
prior to motor breakdown.
For both of them it was also a test of courage
and talent to drive on Lada at full, shifted
up fourth – that means over 100 km/h
in snowy cloud among other home racers.
This year race was completed on serial studdable
tyres of the brand Matador, which
were appreciated by all drivers and the race
became a part of the most demanding test
of these serial tyres.
A big interest of spectators and local media
will certainly help not only to the brand of
Matador on Russian market, but also to a
good image and growth of popularity of the
joint venture Matador Omskschina in
Omsk.
TIRES AND RUBBER
EXHIBITION
One of the most important exhibitions in the
area of rubber and chemical industry took
place from 12 to 15 March 2007 in Moscow
at the exhibition premises of Krasnaya Presnya
and, as every year, also this time there
was the division Matador Machinery together
with Konštrukta-Industry a.s. and Vipo a.s.
This was the 10th year of the international
exhibition “Шины, РТИ и Кaучуки“. The exhibition
was organized under the auspices of the
Ministry for Industry, Science and Technology
of the Russian Federation, the Russian Che-
Tire Technology
Expo 2007
Also this year the division Matador Machinery
participated to the exhibition Tire
Technology Expo, which took place from
13 to 15 March in the exhibition hall Köln
Messe in Köln upon Rhine in Germany. During
three exhibition days, representatives
of present customers as well as potential
new customers or suppliers of machines,
equipment and moulds visited our stand
(common with companies Konštrukta In-
REVENUES OF THE PNEUBOX
NETWORK EXCEEDED TWO
BILLION SLOVAK CROWNS
IN THE PAST YEAR
(Finishing from p. 1)
At present, the international business network
PNEUBOX employs 354 employees in
the Czech Republic, Slovak Republic and
Hungary and has 50 own points of sale.
In connection to the beginning of activities
of the Pneubox business-service network,
there is also a partner program of the PNE-
UBOX business network, called Pneubox
Partner. It refers to long-term European concept
of the PNEUBOX business network, the
aim of which is to establish a retail businessservice
point of sale on a territory attractive
from the point of view of marketing, where
there is no own PNEUBOX retail point of sale.
The aim of the Pneubox Partner network is
to increase overall revenues of this business-service
network and to make services
available also in localities, where PNEUBOX
has no own point of sale. Therefore, PNEU-
BOX offers to potential partners an interesting
concept of the long-term cooperation
with benefits as for example joint promotion,
IT support, business and service knowhow
with extended guarantee for selected
tyres of the MATADOR Company and interes-
7
mical Association and the Mendeleev Russian
Chemical Society. The representation of
exhibitors fully demonstrated stronger influence
of Chinese companies that start to rank
among stable participants.
During exhibition there were apart from presentation
of the company also business meetings
with representatives of the companies
Jaroslavský šinný závod, Rosava and Sibur. At
present the most important for the division
Matador Machinery is Rosava, as there are
very intensive negotiations with its representatives
on delivery of confection machines
and presses. The exhibition fulfilled all expectations
and significantly contributed to a
successful presentation of the division Matador
Machinery on Russian market.
dustry a.s., Trenčín and Vipo a.s., Partizánske).
The Tire Technology Expo is the biggest international
exhibition of this kind, focused
specially on producers of machines, machinery
and technology for rubber industry.
More than 155 exhibitors from 48 countries
of the world presented their producers
here. By number of exhibitors, this
exhibition was considered the best in the
past seven years of its existence.
Together with the exhibition there was also
a conference, which included in total app 90
expert presentations, presented by experts
in the area of research and development of
rubber technology and machines.
ting rebate conditions for purchase of several
world brands of tyre producers.
At present there are 7 Pneubox Partners
within the PNEUBOX network. Three of them
are in the Czech Republic – in Protivín, Hulín
and Slané; in Slovakia they are in Myjava,
Čadca and Štúrovo and in Hungary we have
one partner in the town Balatonfured.
PNEUBOX is a multibrand, international business
network offering broad assortment of
tyres of various brands and complementary
goods, and providing complex tyre services.
PNEUBOX is a new business name of the network,
which was established by integration
of Matador sales networks in Slovakia, Tyre
service Obnova in the Czech Republic and
Horvath Gumi in Hungary.
The name was carefully chosen by experts
and symbolizes racing box in pits, in which a
customer is served professionally, with a
high quality, fast and reliably with complex
offer of tyres of all brands and sizes. The
main aim of the Pneubox is satisfaction of a
customer and not the sale of own brand, as
it was so far.
Within the permanent increase and improvement
of quality of services, the Pneubox
presents much news to its customers. This
refers also to newly-opened up-to-date operations
in Nitra and Martin, which offer the
most up-to date technological equipment of
the highest quality.
For more information visit www.pneubox.eu

MATADORSPORT
Lechner plans to
win the Porsche Supercup,
with Rosina
(Finishting from p. 1)
and we are really pleased to have such a young
talented racer in our team”, said Walter
Lechner, the boss of the Lechner Racing team.
This year, Rosina is going to attend twelve races
within the Formula 1 events. According to
Lechner, his team plans longer cooperation
with the Slovak driver, as the first year in these
prestigious races will be very difficult. “Shtofi”,
as Štefan is called by the team, has very
strong team colleagues - Alessander Zampedri,
who won the Porsche Supercup in 2005, and
Damien Faulkner, a British champion in the
Porsche Carrera Cup. Because of his age, Rosina
is a great prospect for the future.”
Each test day in the Porsche Supercup is, at the
same time, a qualification round and there is
only one actual race afterwards, in which a driver
cannot afford to make even the slightest
mistake. Such a mistake could cost him good
placement as the racing cars reach the finish
within one second of the race winner. “Our drivers
have a camera fitted in the cars, so we
are able to see straightaway what they are doing
with the gear shift lever, steering wheel
and what mistakes they might potentially
make. Excuses, therefore, don’t even come
into consideration”, said Walter Lechner, a former
successful racing pilot and currently the
owner of the Walter Lechner professional
team, as he explained the standard practice
during a race. He considers himself to be very
lucky to be able to cooperate with such young
and talented driver as Štefan Rosina. “Within
three years, Rosina may win the Porsche Supercup”,
commented Lechner, revealing his visions
of the future. He added: “But I ask you all
to be patient. We will work straightforwardly
and honestly inform the public, because that’s
the best basis for good cooperation with the
media”.
“Shtofi” himself is already looking forward to
racing. “I’m aware that the oncoming season
will be very challenging, as the entire starting
field in this race reaches the finish within one
or two seconds of each other, and it will be
very difficult to get into the first half-second of
the first ten racing cars. However, I’m very
happy that I can cooperate with such a great
team and especially with such special people
and professionals as Walter Lechner and the
people in his team”, says Rosina. This Slovak
motorsport talent aims to get into the first half
of the starting field half-way through the season.
“It won’t be easy, but I’m going to do my
very best not to let down those who support
me”
The 10th anniversary of the SCG took place
from 16 to 18 March 2007 at Štrbské
Pleso in High Tatras. The programme of
the event was as usual focused on sport,
but in comparison to other years it was richer
in cultural experience. On Friday evening
there was an untraditional opening
of the event on a snowy slope of Interski
within the sport complex of Štrbské Pleso,
connected to fire show and moderated by
Sajfa from Fun radio. Our team had a difficult
task – to defend the last year title.
On Saturday morning the participants to
sport disciplines could enjoy typical winter
weather; a lot of snow and mild cloud
formation were promising in particular for
participants in demanding skiing disciplines.
Other members of our team were
fiercely fighting in hall sports to get every
point which was subsequently added to
the total score of individual company teams.
In the afternoon the weather changed
and it began to snow, the visibility
was significantly reduced. These conditions
made it much more difficult for our
team, in particular in cross-country skiing
and biathlon. But our men fought and
they achieved two first places in age categories
“Men - seniors” and “Men – juniors”!
Each worth 100 points.
8
MATADORLIFE
Slovak Company Games winter
2007 – Matador on 3rd place!
Combination of excellent driver and excellent
tyres means quite often a victory in automobile
races. One example is Václav Pech, a driver
of the Matador Motorsport, who at the
beginning of February won the Rally Šumava
with his Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX and Matador
tyres. After the victory in Janner Rallye in
Austria he leads the list of the Czech Championship
with maximum number of points.
At the same time these two victories mean
also the Pech’s absolute victory of “Winter
cup” consisting of individual stages of mentioned
competitions.
“For us it is a nice beginning of the season.
I am satisfied with new vehicle Mitsubishi as
well as chose tyres, which perfectly worked
at the Šumava Rallye. We were at the top of
the list from Friday evening up to the finish,
but to achieve victory was not easy at all,”
says Václav Pech.
This year warm winter prepared very difficult
conditions that had to be solved by individual
teams during the competition. Instead of
snowy surfaces the drivers had to drive on
In the evening everybody impatiently waited
for the results to be announced at the
ceremonial announcement of the winner.
On the basis of estimated calculations of
gained points from individual disciplines
our team expected to be overall on 2nd or
3rd place. Unfortunately, the organizer of
the event changed the system of evaluation
and counting in comparison to past
years. In running disciplines we therefore
achieved in total only 100 points instead
of really achieved 200 points. The new
system of rating is that the score gained
in respective discipline is assigned only to
one competitor within the same company,
i.e. the one better result. This shifted
us to overall 3rd place from among 48
company teams and 645 participants from
the whole Slovakia present at the event.
In spite of that it is a nice success, because
last three years our company team was
regularly on the winner’s rostrum.
This time won the team of our joint venture
Continental Matador, s.r.o., and we
add our congratulations to this success.
The company Penta achieved the second
place. The participants enjoyed the rest of
sport and cultural Saturday evening on
the concert of the music band Desmod.
VÁCLAV PECH WON THE ŠUMAVA RALLY ON
MATADOR TYRES
asphalt with various surfaces. Some stages
were dry, others were wet, and then there
was so much mud that the track looked similarly
to the fine aggregate one. On several
parts there was snow and ice. The overall difficulty
is confirmed also by the fact that there
were a lot of accidents, the crews were
slowed down or disqualified from the competition.
Next start of Václav Pech will be at the competition
in Púchov; he will start there at the
Championship of the Central Europe under
the colours of the Czech representation.

MATADORLIFE
Final results of the Šumava Rally 2007
1. Pech-Uhel Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX 2h 05‘52“
2. Gassner-Thannhäuser Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX +1‘12“
3. Trojan-Řihák Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX +3‘12“
Jan Kopecký wins championship point
after placing eighth in the Rally Norway
Jan Kopecký and Filip Schovánek rounded off
their three-week tour of Scandinavia with a
fantastic result, with the Czech Rally Team
Kopecký taking away a championship point
from Norway after an excellent eighth place
in the Rally Norway.
Although Jan Kopecký and Filip Schovánek
were twenty-seventh after the third stage,
their concentrated, flawless performance in
the next fifteen stages moved them up to a
final eighth place, guaranteeing them a
championship point.
‘Ending the three-week tour of Scandinavia
with a championship point is absolutely
amazing for us. In terms of their difficult stages,
the Swedish and Norwegian rallies
were not just challenging for the crew, but
were also complicated because of the weather
and the vehicle preparations. The engineers
and mechanics of the Czech Rally
Team Kopecký were excellent, as the Škoda
Fabia WRC was fault-free throughout the
two rallies. The vehicle preparations, especially
considering the severe frost, were extremely
difficult and they all deserve our admiration
and thanks.
Jan entered the final leg with the clear tactic
of driving the car to the finish without any
complications. Jan and Filip ended Saturday-
’s leg in tenth position, and they seemed to
be too far behind the others to fight for a higher
place. On the other hand, Jan had a relatively
safe lead. The plummeting overnight
temperatures froze the furrowed routes
and there was a change in the conditions
that had prevailed during the previous legs.
Although it was not easy to drive the car in
these conditions, Jan coped with all the stages
on Sunday flawlessly and thanks to the
problems of some of our rivals he was able
to move into eighth place, earning him a
championship point, at the end of the Rally
Norway,’ said Josef Kopecký, the team manager,
at the of the Rally Norway.
Results of the Rally Norway:
1. HIRVONEN M.
LEHTINEN J.
2. GRÖNHOLM M.
RAUTIAINEN T.
3. SOLBERG H.
MENKERUD C.
8. KOPECKÝ JAN
SCHOVÁNEK FILIP
‘Of course I’m very happy we finished the
Rally Norway, and winning a championship
point is a fantastic achievement for the whole
team. I would like to thank all our partners
and especially Škoda Auto a.s. for enabling
me to start these two challenging winter
events.
This year’s Rally Norway was exceptional,
not only because it featured in the World
Rally Championship for the first time, but
also because of the challenging weather
with the huge amounts of snow and the absolutely
minimum number of service breaks.
If you didn’t select the right vehicle settings
in the service zone, then there was nothing
for it but to stick with those settings for several
stages. The Rally Norway was exceptionally
difficult because of the length of
some of the stages too,’ added Jan Kopecký
‘Eighth place in the Rally Norway is an unexpected
achievement for us. The whole team
did its best to get a quality result, but even
so we hadn’t hoped to win a point in Norway
because several really good Nordic drivers
were taking part.
After each stage, Jan and I cleared snow
away from the engine area – especially the
cooling system. We removed all four wheels
from the vehicle and checked the condition
and number of remaining studs on the tyres.
We placed the two wheels with the most
studs on the front axle and the other two on
the back. I’m really pleased with the results
from Sweden and Norway,’ added Filip Schovánek.
Ford Focus RS WRC 06 3:28:17.0
Ford Focus RS WRC 06 +0:09.5
Ford Focus RS WRC 06 +3:44.6
ŠKODA Fabia WRC +11:49.9
9
Miroslav Jandík prepares
for the Championship
of the Slovak Republic
in Rally
Miroslav Jandík, a contractual driver of the
Matador Motorsport born in Zlín, will this
year compete in particular on the Slovak roads.
Together with his co-driver Radim
Chrastecký they will go through the complete
Championship of the Slovak Republic
and also Barum Rally in Zlín.
In comparison to the past season the drivers
will drive on newer version of the racing vehicle
Mitsubishi Lancer – its ninth evolution. At
the moment the racing vehicle is under preparation
in Zlín. “It is almost ready, but still we
have to solve minor details. We hope that it
will bring us luck and already now we are looking
forward to the start at the Rally Matador
Tatry in April. The new Mitsubishi should be
faster than the older model EVO 7,” says driver
Miroslav Jandík.
Also Jandík, a driver of the Matador Motorsport,
is getting ready for the season. “Every day I dedicate
to sport at least one hour – in particular
to cycling, in case of bad weather to spinning.
Some days I prefer squash or fitness centre.
I plan to go skiing, but so far it was not possible
because of the snow conditions and construction
of the EVO 9.”
Who is Miroslav Jandík?
He is a rally driver with the vehicle Mitsubishi
Lancer. Last season he drove on the seventh
evolution, this year he will drive on
EVO 9. Last season he was driving in particular
within the Czech Championship. He achieved
the total 6th place. He has a bad luck,
in three competitions he ended up on inglorious
forth position. At the Rally Matador Tatry
he was fifth. He was better in rallysprinte.
He won third place at the Rally Vysočina, and
second place at the Rally Agropa.
CALENDAR OF RACES OF MIROSLAV JANDÍK
IN 2007:
13. – 15.04. 38. Rally Matador Tatry FIA
EPC, FIA CEZ MSR
(double races)
02. – 03.06. Rally Bratislava MSR
06. – 08.07. Rally Rožňava MSR
24. – 26.08. Barum Rally Zlín
31.08. – 01.09. Rally Spiš MSR
26. – 28.10. 33. Rally Košice FIA CEZ,
MSR

Štefan Rosina
wants to succeed
in the Porsche
Supercup Series
Štefan Rosina, driver of the Matador Motorsport
team, completed the first testing round
of the world Porsche Supercup Series. With
new equipment, he completed the testing kilometres
on German round in Hockenheim
this week.
The season 2007 will be connected to Porsche
brand for the present Slovak number one. Last
year Rosina introduced himself behind the
wheel of special GT3 RS within the championship
FIA GT, this year he will drive Porsche
911 GT3 Cup - specification 997, with which he
will participate to all ten races of the Porsche
Supercup Series 2007. This year cup races of
identical vehicles are also a part of selected
formula F1 races, which clearly demonstrates
the value of this brand series.
In connection to the project Porsche Supercup,
the management of the Matador Motorsport
team decided to join forces with the company
Lechner Racing. Renowned Austrian stable
with rich experience from various formula series
and racing prototypes focused during the
past years also on the Porsche cup races and
their vehicles always belonged to the fastest
ones. “When we gain experience, we want to
be placed on the top places of the result list
and for that purpose it is necessary to provide
professional approach when preparing technique
and this is what Walter Lechner offers”,
Štefan Rosina explains the background of the
cooperation with the team based in Salzburg.
Similarly as in every field of the motor sport industry,
also in case of Porsche Supercup we
Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
Vehicles for Porsche Supercup are produced
and supplied by the sport department of the
car factory in Stuttgart. Racing special is produced
in civil version 911 and its drive is secured
by flat six-cylinder with performance
can state that testing is basis for success. Already
one month before the first race of the season,
Štefan Rosina set off for Hockenheimring
for the first team tests and by that he started
his extensive testing this year programme.
Since the most tracks of this year cup are new
for Štefan, first of all he will go through a getting
to know test to get to know the round before
each race. This year Porsche Supercup will
not take place at Hockenheim; however, the
team has chosen this legendary round for two
day testing, the numerous technical passages
of which are ideal for getting to know the vehicle.
“From the beginning I knew, that not the
best possible time results are necessary, but to
get to know the vehicle and also the whole
team,“ said Štefan in connection to time spent
in Hockenheim. “The character of this car is
very similar to the one I used at FIA GT. Even
though it has lower performance, it also has
ceramic brakes, therefore I can drive more
aggressively in curves,” says Štefan after the
first contact with the vehicle. The Lechner
team provided the young Slovak with own
technician, and from the first day they began
setting up the vehicle. The situation was easier
because the team had a lot of data already
from past year; the technician together with
other technicians focused in particular on optimization
of the vehicle to driver’s style. From
the first moment Štefan relished good com-
400 horses and power 400 Nm. Handling is secured
by six-degree sequential transmission.
Electronic system for engine control and collection
of data is supplied by the company Motec.
Ceramic brakes and carbon aerodynamic
elements are other racing characteristics of
the vehicle.
10
MATADORLIFE
munication with the engineer: “My technician
Mario watchfully listened to my comments
and recommendations and he was able to apply
them quickly to the set-up of the car.”
Apart from setting up convergence and diversions,
the test was also focused on getting to
know the rigidity of the chassis. The lambda
sound was also changed, because at the beginning
Štefan had the feeling that the car drives
behind the gas.
Two days behind the wheel, several tenths of
kilometres in sharp speed, hours spent with
technicians. What are the first impressions of
Štefan Rosina? “Wherever I look I see professionalism.
Everybody takes it seriously and that
is a sign that race itself will has high standard,”
says the pilot of the Matador Motorsport. At
the beginning of the season Štefan would like
to achieve the first half of the result list. Porsche
Supercup concept does not provide much
space for errors. One training, one qualification
and one competition is an uncompromised
scenario, where every little mistake or hesitation
means shift to the lower part of the result
list. On the start there are 25 identical cars, the
result is therefore based on driving skills. It is
not an exception that there might be 10 drivers
with time differing by one second at the
qualification. The race itself is followed by contact
races. At Porsche Supercup 2007 will be
a lot to look at.
Program of the Porsche
Supercup 2007
13.04. – 15.04. Bahrain BAH
11.05. – 13.05. Barcelona ESP
25.05. – 27.05. Monaco MCO
29.06. – 01.07. Magny Cours FRA
06.07. – 08.07. Silverstone GBR
20.07 – 22.07. Nürburgring GER
03.08. – 05.08. Budapest HUN
24.08. – 26.08. Istanbul TUR
07.09. – 09.09. Monza ITA
14.09. – 16.09. Spa BEL

MATADORLIFE
Toman comes third
in the FIA Andrea
Margutti Trophy
race
Libor Toman, the youngest driver in the
Matador Motorsport team and the
Czech karting representative, gained
the bronze medal in the FIA “Trofeo Andrea
Margutti” race in Italy. This international
race, which belongs to the International
Automobile Federation
(FIA) race calendar, took place on 3 – 4
March in Parma and Toman presented
himself for the first time in the higher
category KF2 (former ICA) to which he
only recently transferred.
The excellent placing achieved by this young
motor sport talent is to be even more
appreciated as he came third in this competition
of 90 drivers from 15 countries. In
this season, Toman is driving for the BIREL
kart racing team, which is the largest producer
of kart chassis. For his excellent
race, he was praised by Oscar Sala, the
owner of the BIREL racing team. Toman is
the only official driver for BIREL, who was
chosen from the former eastern-bloc countries
to represent this prestigious racing
team.
In the last season, Toman ranked fifth
overall in the European Championship. For
his excellent results, he also came third in
the Golden Steering Wheel Award 2006.
Several Formula 1 stars, such as Senna,
Schumacher, Alonso, Raikönnen and Button,
also entered motor sport through karting.
Václav Pech wins Rally Matador
Tatry 2007 once again
Matador Motorsport´s crew Václav Pech
– Petr Uhel on Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
won in the weekend’s Rallye Matador
Tatry 2007 (14. – 15.4.) for the 6th
time.
According to several drivers, top crews
participated in the 38th year of the prestigious
Slovak race, which is a part of
the FIA circuit with the highest coefficient
of 10. This was confirmed by the fact that
four champion crews from different countries
of Central and Eastern Europe participated
in the rally.
„We haven’t had such a competitive attendance
at the Rally Matador Tatry before.
That is why we knew that the race
would be very difficult. We tried not to
underestimate anything and we made
sure that we prepared well,“ says the
Czech champion from Matador Motorsport
- Václav Pech, who drove his Mitsubishi
on new sport 18-inch tires Mata-
dor SM-20 for the first time. „We were
surprised much to our satisfaction and it
11
definitely contributed to our successful
defense of the last year’s title. I am happy
that Matador made another significant
step in development of top-quality sorts
tires.“
Another crew from Matador Motorsport
Miroslav Jandík – Radim Chrastecký finished
in 4th place. „Taking into consideration
the huge competition we are satisfied
with the result, although it is true
that we are fed up with 4th places. We
were very little behind Trojan in the third
place, on the other hand we were only
one tenth of a second in front of the
pushing Béreš,“ says Jandík who drove
the 9th Mitsubishi Lancer evolution for
the first time, in assessment of their result.
„During the first special stages on
Saturday we had to catch up with the
pace after several month’s break and we
had to get used to new car. By late Saturday
we caught up and our car as well
as the new 18-inch wheels worked perfectly.“
However, according to Jandík,
their new Mitsubishi needs several minor
adjustments – so far they are missing the
approved brakes and asynchronous gearbox.
Final results of the Rallye Matador Tatry 2007
FIA Európsky pohár – Central
1. Pech, Uhel (CZ, Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX, N4) 2:09:50,6 hod
2. Kuzaj, Baran (PL, Subaru Impreza STi, N4) + 43.7 s
3. Trojan, Řihák (CZ, Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX, N4) + 2:34.0 min
4. Jandík – Chrastecký (CZ, Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX, N4) + 2:41.6 min
5. Béreš, Starý (SK, CZ, Renault Clio S1600, A6) + 2:41.7 min
6. Štajf – Lesniaková (CZ, Subaru Impreza STi, N4) + 3:21.9 min
7. Frycz – Rathe (PL, Subaru Impreza STi, N4) + 4:17.4 min
8. Barvík – Bartončík (CZ, Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX, N4) + 4:47.3 min
9.Gavlák, Hůlka (SK, CZ, Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX, N) + 5:15.9 min
10.Grzyb – Hundla (PL, Suzuki Swift S1600, A6) + 6:33.0 min

TEMPUS RALLY 2007 – Championship of the Slovak Republic in Rally (MSR)
12
MATADORLIFE
Rallye Matador Tatry I FIA EPC, FIA CEZ, MSR Púchov 14. April
Rallye Matador Tatry II FIA EPC, FIA CEZ, MSR Púchov 15. April
Rally Bratislava MSR Bratislava 2. – 3. June
Rally Rožňava MSR Rožňava 6. – 7. July
Rally Spiš MSR Poprad 31. August – 1. September
Rally Košice FIA CEZ, MSR Košice 27. – 28. October
Jozef and Marek Sýkora had to retire from the race
because of technical failure
Technical failure of the Mitsubishi Pajero
vehicle prevented the Slovak crew - Jozef
and Marek Sýkora, to achieve another success
in the cross country rally Italian Baja.
On Friday, after the introductory prologue
the Matador Motorsport crew ended up
on excellent second place, with only onesecond
loss behind the Spanish crew
Blasquez - Navarro.
On Saturday Fortune did not favour the
Slovak crew; the Matador Motorsport crew
had to retire from the race only two kilometres
before the finishing line of the
first stage. “The reduction between the
engine and oil-cooler broke down. We
have a new motor and we did not want to
destroy it, therefore we did not have any
other possibility but to retire from the
race,” explains Jozef Sýkora, the pilot of
the Slovak crew.
The winner of the Italian Baja 2007, which
is included in the FIA calendar as part of
the International cross country rally, was
surprisingly Russian crew with pilots Boris
Gadasin – Alexa Mironenko on the Nissan
Pick up vehicle. The second were Hungarian
drivers Sándor Kis and Peter Czgledi
on a prototype Autoport Evo4 vehicle, be-
fore Portuguese brothers Alexandro and
Jaoa Pedro Re with their terrain Nissan
Pathfinder.
Italian Baja 2007 was the first race of the
three-part serial of the European Championship
cross country rally of the Baja type.
Now the Slovak crew has another two attempts
to gain points to the overall score
in the competition of the European cup:
Baja Espaňa, which will take place on 20
– 23 July in Spain and the title will be
awarded at Baja Anta Da Serra 500 – Portalegre
this year in October.

MATADORLIFE
PREPARATION OF A RACING VEHICLE
ANALYSIS TO THE LAST SCREW
Champion of the SR in the up-hill racing
and multiple champion of the Europe. Driver
of the Matador Motorsport Peter Jureňa
speaks about preparation of the vehicle
for the season 2007 and his unambiguous
target.
You are driving the racing vehicle Mitsubishi
Lancer. How exactly is the racing vehicle
created?
- First of all it is necessary to determine the
right racing equipment. Prior to this there
are made numerous studies, comparisons, literally
speculations, for what group and class
the vehicle shall be made for. Since within
the serial of the European Championship of
the up-hill racing there are evaluated only
categories and groups, not classes, the decision
is much easier. If someone wants to be
competitive, he must start with the most efficient
vehicles in individual group according
to FIA regulations. Therefore this year I decided
for MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO IX.
Do you get it ready from the producer or
do you need to set it by yourself?
- Since I start in the group N, I must comply
with respective technical regulations. I can‘t
build my racing vehicle from the beginning.
The producer gives us the vehicle in the so
called RS setting and it’s up to us to use all
possibilities to improve performance and driving
properties of the vehicle, in accordance
with FIA regulations.
How does a process of setting up looks
like? What does it include?
- The first step is the purchase of a vehicle.
The most important part may begin only after
complying with all administrative requirements.
The vehicle is dismantled to the
last screw and we start to lighten it up. Protective
spraying, prevention of corrosion and
other materials are removed from the body
work to achieve lower weight of a vehicle.
Then the protective frame, of course homologized,
will be welded to the body work
and seat holders assembled. Meanwhile,
the engine is tuned by the specialist for engine
setting; there are adjusted differentials,
gear and other components.
Who prepares your car?
- The car is prepared by a big team of specialist.
The basic works are made in our
workshop, the rest of them are made by
companies specialised for respective parts.
In the past the car was made ready by the
company Target Evolution. Now we cooperate
with specialised companies in the Czech
Republic and Australia.
How long do such settings take?
- Preparation of a vehicle for season begins
immediately after termination of all official
things from the previous season, which we
are obliged to absolve in connection to our
advertising partners. Therefore the beginning
of the preparation for the upcoming seasons
13
is before Christmas. The vehicle is being adjusted
and repaired during four months.
Surely, you test the vehicle before races.
How do such tests look like?
- The vehicle is tested just before the beginning
of the season, with the focus on setting
of the chassis and adjustment of all
components of the vehicle.
What is more important during the race –
well adjusted vehicle or good tyres?
- None of them can be preferred. Both are
very important.
Last season you competed with the Mitsubishi
Lancer EVO VII, this year you will
use its ninth evolution. What is the difference
between these vehicles?
- It is a vehicle of new generation; it has
many different elements homologized in
comparison to EVO VII.
How do you prepare for the season?
- From the point of view of physical condition
I sky and swim, however I am happiest
when working on preparation of the vehicle.
Can you tell us objectives of this year season?
The objective is unambiguous – to win the
absolute title of the European Champion in
up-hill racing.

Jureňa began the ME series with victory
Peter Jureňa, driver of the Matador Motorsport,
won in the first competition within
13 episodes of the European Championship
in the up-hill racing in Italy (15.4.) and
confirmed his role of the favourite. “I am
very satisfied with the result, the new car
functions very good. Although I did not
know the track well, I was able to win,”
says Jureňa in connection to the result..
The Slovak representative and the Slovak
Champion in this discipline was successful already
during the Saturday competition, when
Štefan Rosina, the Slovak motor sport
representative, experienced everything
as a novice of extremely
strong starting field at the opening of
the Porsche Mobil Supercup 2007 –
happiness because of the excellent
result in the first race on April 14th,
2007 as well as disappointment because
of unfinished first round in the
second race on Sunday.
The fourteenth place of Štefan Rosina in
the Friday classification confirmed words
of the head of the team Walter Lechner
from couple of days ago at the press
conference in Bratislava that our representative
may think of an excellent placing
in the near future. From the starting
field with 29 members more than 15 names
are well-known in motor sport and
other ten drivers have already started
for several times in this prestigious,
world’s fastest competition. In extremely
high temperatures on a 5.4 km long
BIC – Bahrain International Circuit, the
first 15 drivers “fit” into one second.
Štefan fulfilled the objective he wanted
to achieve at the Saturday race – to pre-
he won in both trainings. On Sunday rainy races
Jureňa confirmed his sovereignty in the
first race, when he came to the finish as a
winner with his Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX. Because
of the bad weather the organizer was
forced to cancel the second race. “Organizers
of the competition failed, the competition
vent any mistakes at the start and to
keep up with others. Even though he
lost two positions after the first round,
he quickly overtook two slower drivers
and started to pursue Van de Berg and
Langhorn from America for several
rounds. “They were slower, he should
overtake them earlier - afterwards he
did not have much time for experienced
Bleekemolen driving on the 11th place.
He will have a hard school here, compliments
do not educate,” said Walter
Lechner, the head of the team, in connection
to Rosina’s performance. However,
he gained the first four points thanks
to excellent 12th place in the opening
race, thus as the youngest one in the
team contributing to an excellent Saturday
of Walter Lechner – on the rostrum
there were two drivers of this team. The
winner of the Saturday race was Damien
Faulkner from Ireland with convincing
lapse of time before Uwe Alzen; the
third was Alessandro Zampredi, other
Rosina’s team colleague.
There was a thread of a sandstorm on
Sunday, but the weather calmed down
before start; however, the track was full
14
MATADORLIFE
was full of problems - from parking to slow
removal of accidents. This is the reason why
competitors weren’t able to absolve the second
race,” concludes the Slovak representative.
Štefan Rosina gained four points in his first race
at the Porsche Supercup 2007
Order in the group N:
1. Peter Jureňa (SVK) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 3.50.01
2. Miroslav Jakeš (CZ) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 3.51.58
3. Rudi Chiavarolli (ITA) BMW M3 3.52.00
of sand in spite of all efforts of the organizers.
Damien Faulkner started from
pole position, Štefan Rosina was again
on 14th position in the middle of the
field - the position was calculated from
the second best times from Friday classification.
Alzen started the best and
Štefan Rosina had the same bad luck as
another novice - Czech driver Jiří Janák
on Saturday. In the middle of the first
round, American Langhorne literally
spun him and in subsequent collision
another driver destroyed his front wheel
and the hope was over. Excellent Alzen
won the race before Westbrook; Faulkner
from the Lechner Racing team ended
up on the third place.
Thus the favourites confirmed their ambitions
- Uwe Alzen (GER), winner of the
65 kilometre long competition of the
last year, started excellently the races in
Bahrain as well as Richard Westbrook
(GBR), the last year winner of the whole
series of the Porsche Supercup and the
second on Bahrain circuit in the previous
year. Damien Faulkner, British champion
in the Porsche Carrera Cup, also fulfilled
expectations. On the start there were in
total twenty nine drivers representing
fifteen teams.
“I am one of them, even though perhaps
the youngest one and least experienced,
but I am satisfied with the twelfth place.
Now I know what to do to achieve better
results, I already had better times by
five to six places on Saturday; there is no
place for hesitation in this competition.
In such balanced field every bad handling,
everything is visible. It requires
patience and to have a good luck. I completed
many starts like this, the American
hanged on me and another punch
destroyed the wheel – this happens in
this kind of sport. I already look forward
to Barcelona, I have not drive there yet
and therefore it will be much more interesting,”
says Štefan Rosina in connection
to his opening performance in
the Porsche Mobil Supercup in Bahrain.

MATADORLIFE
Matador Cup after the introductory competition
The automobile competition Matador Cup
2007 started by Valašská rally, which is a part
of the Championship of the Czech Republic in
rally. Motorsport Kopecký, the promoter of the
Matador Cup, reacted to changes in the organization
of home championships and this year
there will be the Matador Cup of International
Championship of the Czech Republic in rally (5
competitions), National Championship of the
Czech Republic in rally (6 competitions) and
Championship of the Czech Republic in sprintrally
(6 competitions).
Valašská Rally started not only the Matador
Cup, but also home championship in two-day
competitions.
Several crews entered for a competition immediately
before the start and completed already
signed crews to eight crews. Vladimír
Barvík was not at the start of the Valašská rally;
he will enter the Matador Cup on the next
competition of the Championship of the Czech
Republic in rally - Agrotec Rally Hustopeče.
Also Pavel Červenka was not at the start, he is
participating to the preparation of a new racing
vehicle and we will see him in some other
competitions of the Matador Cup.
Spring weather welcomed the following crews
at the start: Jan Jelínek-Miroslav Kotěna (Mit-
Autodrom in Vysoké Mýto witnessed the test
of new 18” sport tyre SM-20 of the brand Matador
on the vehicle Škoda Fabia WRC with
the crew of the Matador Motorsport Team
Kopecký-Schovánek. Jan Kopecký, who participates
to the testing and development of
the sport tyres for several years, focused in
particular on test of the tyres in the most rigid
compound available – marked by „R5”. Of
course, at the testing there were also specialists
of the Matador Motorsport there.
The comparison was very positive for the Matador
SM-20, in particular when comparing to
previous models of racing tyres Matador, but
also in comparison to the tyres from competition.
During the test the driver Jan Kopecký verified
also several applied changes within the
valid homologation on asphalt version of the
vehicle Škoda Fabia WRC, because classical
subishi Lancer Evo IX), Jiří Volf-František Rajnoha
(Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII), David Spisar-Radim
Hájek (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI),
Karel Pohner-Jan Husák (Honda Civic Type R),
Tomáš Marek-Pavel Malaník (Honda Civic 1.6
VTI) and Radek Majer-Michal Pohořelý (Škoda
Felicia).
Jan Jelínek started the competition excellently;
after the introductory speed test he was not
only in the lead of the Matador Cup, but after
the accident of Josef Semerád he also dominated
all production vehicles. The crew Jan Jelínek
- Miroslav Kotěna headed towards the primacy
among production vehicles and maximum
points in the Matador Cup until an unforeseeable
technical defect appeared in the
eight speed test, causing puncture of two tyres.
Fast driving Jiří Volf made use of opportunity
after Jan Jelínek’s withdrawal from the
competition; he was the only one who kept up
with excellently driving Jan Jelínek. Even though
Jiří Volf with the vehicle Mitsubishi Lancer Evo
VIII left the track two times, i.e. right during
the introductory speed test and in the tenth
test, he became the king of production vehicles
of the Matador Cup.
Already the first introductory competition of
the Matador Cup confirmed the correctness of
changing the philosophy of the cup, which is
this year opened not only for production vehicles
(N4), but also to other classes. The new
Matador sport tyres in 15” size were tested by
two crews with vehicles classified in the class
N2. The crew Tomáš Marek-Pavel Malaník with
the vehicle Honda Civic 1.6 VTI fought successfully
in its class, unfortunately at the end
of the introductory stage the crew was penalised
by 20 seconds for using gloves without valid
homologation. Tomáš Marek tried to elimi-
asphalt competitions of the serial of the
World Championship in Rally 2007 so far waits
for Jan Kopecký. In this year season the
crew of the Matador Motorsport Team Kopecký-Schovánek
started in four competitions,
the speed tests of which were performed
mostly on loose surfaces.
During the test Jan Kopecký expressed his satisfaction
with adjustments of the vehicle
and in particular with times achieved during
the test of tyres SM-20 from Matador.
“In our busy programme we found a space
for testing at Vysoké Mýto, which was
focused on verification of functionality of
several changes applied to the vehicle
Škoda Fabia WRC within the valid homologation.
The priority is the test of Matador
racing tyres SM-20 of the size 18”. We
compared the tyres with the previous ty-
15
nate this loss by increasing speed already from
first meters of the second stage, but an accident
in the fifth speed test spoiled hopes for
success in the class N2 of the Matador Cup.
Karel Pohner with his vehicle Honda Civic Type
R introduced himself in the class A7; he had to
familiarise himself not only with Matador sport
tyres but also new sport equipment. At the
end of the Valašská rally the crew Karel Pohner-Jan
Husák was on the 18th place; however,
in particular 8 points for the second place
in the Matador Cup is an excellent introduction
of the season as well as the mentioned cup.
David Spisar is the third from the threesome of
scoring drivers, even though he failed to cross
the finishing line of the Valašská rally; however
by placing the vehicle to a closed parking
lot he fulfilled rules of the Superally and is rated
within the final ranking of the competition.
There were many withdrawals of registered
crews from the Valašská rally, whether because
of technical problems of vehicles or
accidents. Let’s hope that we will welcome
more racing crews at the finishing line of the
following competition – Agrotec Rally Hustopeče.
Current ranking after the first competition
of the Matador Cup of the Championship
of the Czech Republic in Rally:
1. Jiří Volf 10 points
2. Karel Pohner 8 points
3. David Spisar 6 points
Jan Kopecký tested SM-20 tyres from Matador
res of the brand Matador, as well as with
the products from the competition. Efficiency
of this tyre is fully competitive to
the commercial versions of racing tyres of
world producers, we even had the fastest
time in the speed test on tyres SM-20 from
Matador,“ said Jan Kopecký after the test.