RandomiciNews:'Challenging Czech' Havel chooses not to defend Olethros crown

August 31, 2013

2012 OLETHROS 100 WINNER Miroslav Havel has shocked the world of motorsport by announcing that he will NOT defend his crown this year, with the 30-year-old from Prague competing in the Czech Touring Car Championship instead.

This is only the third time that a driver has done this in the race's 58-year history. The first time was in 1976, where Davis Mankiewicz skipped the race to stage a protest against the new Copyright Act. It happened again in 2004, where Harry Millar skipped the race to attend the first ever Chinese Grand Prix.

This, readers, is why copyright sucks. Were it not for the creation of the new act, Mankiewicz could well have become the race's first American two-time winner.

Anyway, let's back to basics. Havel won the race in 2012, beating the pre-race favourite to win, Haruhi Suzumiya of Japan, as the 2011 champion Innes McDonald finished seventh. Havel was only the fourth driver from a landlocked nation to savour victory champagne in the race, after Alphonse Winckel (Luxembourg), Roland Gruber (Austria) and Sacha Crescenzi (Switzerland).