Barum Czech Rally Zlín 

Flash info after Regrouping Leg 2

26. 8. 2018 - Evžen Gargulák

We met the crews at the regrouping in Zlín. The roads are still wet, but during afternoon, it should not rain anymore and some sections will be dry. Many drivers chose careful approach. But the front-runners are still speeding up. It will be a nerve-wrecking rally until the very end.

Bruno Magalhães (PRT, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. No. 2):
"We are slowly improving. But the car was too hard, I'm going to change the setup."

Chris Ingram (GBR, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. No. 11):
"We're getting into the rhythm in some sections but then in others I have no confidence. It's very difficult. Partly it's because of the conditions, partly of the setup and partly because of me. I had good fun on Kašava."

Jaromír Tarabus (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. No. 21):
"It's very wet. We'll see, apparently SS Halenkovice in now dry. But Maják and Kašava will definitely be muddy. We'll see. It seems to be a lottery now."

Fabian Kreim (DEU, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. No. 7):
"It was quite difficult. We had a better starting position today. But we expected a lot of mud. So far it was good. We'll try to give everything on the second loops, to keep Chris ingram behind us for the championship."

Filip Mareš (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. No. 18):
"Stage Kašava is very long, from our point of view we did not lose much on Kopecký, six or seven seconds, that's nothing that would concern me much. Car is working well and we're enjoying it."

Miroslav Jakeš (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. No. 27):
"We're good. It's a shame that on SS11 we got a flat tyre and we lost another 10 seconds on stage 12 because we off the road. Car's setup is great we're having a good drive."

Daniel Sordo (ESP, Hyundai i20 R5, Start. No. 5):
"It's quite nice today but also it was difficult this morning. The stages are quite dirty. It will be very difficult. The tyres are working very well. In today's conditions I have better feeling in the car. But the stages are not simple."

Nikolay Gryazin (LVA, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. No. 9):
"The first stage was very difficult, there was a lot of mud. I'm not pushing at all it's very easy to make a fatal mistake here. On the next loops we might be better. I don't know whether we can keep the place overall, but position in U28 is important to us. We don't have an experience to push on the mud, we need the points."

Jan Kopecký (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. No. 4):
"It was raining all night and then this morning so the conditions are tough. Maybe it was too much for some crews. Some places are so hard, you can't bet everything on one card. We'll do anything to get back to the first place. Now, we need to change tyres and chose the right substance."

Alexey Lukyanuk (RUS, Ford Fiesta R5, Start. No. 1):
"We are only focused on the European championship. I'm not thinking about Kopecký. We're still learning about what type of tyres best suits these conditions."

Laurent Pellier (FRA, Peugeot 208 T16, Start. No. 10):
"It's dangerous. We made one mistake and got off the road. We lost minute and a half. Overall, I'm happy and we are learning. But the car is too hard."

Jan Černý (CZE, Ford Fiesta R5, Start. No. 12):
"I'm not doing well. I can't deal with tyres but yesterday they worked. I'm not confident on sections that I know."

Orhan Avcioglu (TUR, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. No. 19):
"It was very difficult. It's muddy and slippery. Like on driving on a black ice. We're losing grip. We wanted to get back to "tenth place, now we are twelth."

Antonín Tlusťák (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. No. 57):
"We caught Tomáš Pospíšil. I focused on Kašava and we did it. Now it's about getting to the finish line."

Tomáš Pospíšilík (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5, Start No. 59)
"We probably don't have a good setup. Yesterday we had a better feeling. On every stage today there was something, either I made a mistake or we were waiting too long before the start. We can get points for championship and there's not reason to push hard."

Dávid Botka (HUN, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. No. 19)
"It's same as yesterday, it's very hard, muddy. We want to just finish. Maybe we'll change tyres."

Simone Tempestini (ROU, Fiat 124 Abarth, Start. No. 20)
"It was a difficult morning. Yesterday we changed the setup, hoping it would lead to better results. But now I don't have a good feeling. In service we'll try some other things or go back."

Martinš Sesks (LVA, Opel Adam R2, Start. No. 39)
"Well, the first stage was quite good. We now know what to do on slippery surface. I was struggling with the grip on the second one, it was drier that I thought. On the last one we made some mistakes that cost us 9 seconds. I feel quite confident."

Erik Cais (CZE, Peugeot 208 R2, Start. No. 67)
"It's mad. There so much water and mud everywhere. It's so demanding. I want to take it easy for the last loops. To be able to keep up with juniors it's amazing. We'll try to keep up the good work."

Simone Wagner (AUT, Peugeot 208 R2, Start No. 42)
"It was OK. No big mistakes, it well went. But it will be difficult before we reach the end."