Barum Czech Rally Zlín 

Kopecký has overwritten history in Zlín!

30. 8. 2015 - Roman Ordelt

A Škoda Motorsport factory crew Jan Kopecký, Pavel Dresler with their car Škoda Fabia R5 has won the 45th Barum Czech Rally Zlín which is a part of FIA European Rally Championship (ERC) and Czech Rally Championship 2015. The 33-year-old driver has won Barum Rally for the fourth time and can also celebrate his third Czech title. The overall second crew Václav Pech, Petr Uhel on Mini John Cooper Works S2000 finished 27.2 seconds behind him. The leader of ERC Polish Kajetan Kajetanowicz and his co-driver Jaroslaw Baran on Ford Fiesta R5 were third with 39.8 seconds loss on the winner. This year's Barum Rally was quite smooth and it welcomed more than two hundred thousand spectators who were cheering their favorites in very tropical conditions. The Spectator's Super Special Stage was seen by more than forty thousand motor sport fans.

Kopecký has confirmed that he owns this season. He ruled Saturday's Leg 1, winning all eight Special Stages and gaining more than 30 seconds on Pech. Pech was able to keep up with Kopecký only at the beginning. On the second run he started to lose more and more seconds as the Czech champion from 2004 and 2012 was showing what he is capable of. Kopecký seems to be deliberately winning Barum Rally in odd years. His first triumph here dates back to 2009. „It was an amazing weekend for us. I am glad that ever since the qualification we were doing great. We only had a small problem on SS Slušovice but since we took the overall lead there we cannot complain. Huge thanks to our team because they have built a strong and reliable car. Barum Rally is famous for its fans and they did not disappoint. They created wonderful atmosphere. They were cheering us from the very first day. Heads off to them because it was really hot and they could have gone to the pool," said Jan Kopecký.

Polish Kajetan Kajetanowicz managed to gain points and to increase his lead in European Rally Championship. His main rival Craig Breen from Ireland after an excellent last stage finished on the seventh position. Kajetanowicz was gradually increasing pressure on Pech and trying to overtake him but his efforts were ruined by unspecific issues with the engine. "We did our best to keep the distance and the position. Needless to say that the level of difficulty on these stages in enormous. I think it was a beautiful rally fight till the end. And the third place is still good. We take it. We had some issues on the second loop on Troják but it was not anything major, the finish line was close," said Kajetan Kajetanowicz.

Six Czech drivers finished in the top ten. Not counting already mentioned Kopecký and Pech the Czech flag was proudly represented by Pavel Valoušek - 5th place, followed by Jan Černý (both Škoda Fabia S2000). Miroslav Jakeš (Citroën DS3 R5) was ninth and Jan Jelínek (Škoda Fabia S2000) was tenth. Antonín Tlusťák had a tough luck because in the next-to-last stage he had a puncture, lost more than 3 minutes and dropped to twelfth position.

Hungarian Dávid Botka (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX) won the production car category and behind was a Zlín-born driver Martin Březík (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX) followed by Vojtěch Štajf (Subaru Impreza STi) who had a same time.

The newly-crowned European Junior Rally Champion Emil Bergkvist (Opel Adam R2) destroyed the competition in the two-wheel-drive category. The fight for the silver medal was won by Ralfs Sirmacis (Peugeot 208 R2) from Latvia who managed tO stay ahead of Polish Aleks Zawada (Opel Adam R2). The fastest Czech driver Ondřej Bisaha (Citroën DS3 R3T) was forced to retire in the last stage due to technical problems.

Overall standings after Special Stage 15:
1. Kopecký, Dresler (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5) 2:12:17.7 h.
2. Pech, Uhel (CZE, Mini John Cooper Works S200) + 27.2 s
3. Kajetanowicz, Baran (POL, Ford Fiesta R5) + 39.8 s
4. Lukyanuk, Arnautov (BLR/RUS, Ford Fiesta R5) + 1:10.7 min
5. Valoušek, Havelková (CZE, Škoda Fabia S2000) + 2:29.9 min
6. Černý, Černohorský (CZE, Škoda Fabia S2000) + 4:06.9 min
7. Breen, Martin (IRL/GBR, Peugeot 208 T16) + 4:24.9 min
8. Kobus, de Wild (NLD, Škoda Fabia R5) + 4:31.0 min
9. Jakeš, J. Novák (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5) + 5:46.1 min
10. Jelínek, Machů (CZE, Škoda Fabia S2000) + 6:40.9 min

11. Botka, Szeles (HUN, Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX), 1. ERC2 + 7:55.4 min
16. Bergkvist, Sjöberg (SWE, Opel Adam R2), 1. place ERC3 + 10:1.4 min

Won SS: Kopecký – 9, Pech – 2, Lukyanuk – 2, Breen – 1, Kajetanowicz – 1.