Jan Kopecky strode to a dominant victory on the 2009 Barum Czech Rally Zlin today, round 8 of the 2009 Intercontinental Rally Challenge. In so doing the 27-year-old became the first Czech driver in a Czech car to win the biggest motor sport event in the Czech Republic for eight years, enveloping the enormous crowds that lined the stages in celebration.
At the wheel of a works Skoda Fabia S2000, Kopecky took the lead from his team mate Juho Hanninen on SS2 and never looked back – his winning margin at the finish being almost exactly one minute after 15 fast and gruelling stages over two legs.
“This has been the perfect event for me and everyone involved,” he enthused amid an emotional reception in host city Zlin. “The car never missed a beat and I was able to concentrate the whole time on keeping an advantage. The atmosphere has been fantastic all week, the fans have given such amazing support I am so proud for them and for Skoda to bring home the win.”
Second place fell to championship leader Kris Meeke after a remarkable comeback drive from 33rd position on Friday night. The Peugeot UK driver started the rally with a five point advantage over Kopecky and worked hard all weekend in order to keep his seat at the top of the points table. His championship hopes were aided when two of the other main contenders hit trouble – Abarth team leader Giandomenico Basso crashing out on SS8 during torrential rain and Benelux Peugeot ace Freddy Loix suffering a puncture that put his car out of commission on SS10.
“There is so much to like about this rally, from the atmosphere to the stages themselves, which really ask some big questions of you as a driver,” said Meeke. “We were unlucky to pick up the puncture on the first stage that dropped us back, but I have to admit to making a few mistakes along the way that fortunately didn’t cost us anything except a chance to really pressure Jan for the lead.”
The podium was completed by the second Skoda Motorsport Fabia of Juho Hanninen, the Finnish gravel expert finding himself gaining confidence on the bumpy and fast asphalt around Zlin as the rally progressed. “I wasn’t too optimistic that we could finish this high before the start,” he said.
“But then we won the first stage! After that things were a bit more normal for me, the pace was incredible over the first day and so I decided not to take risks and build up my pace, which worked well in the end. I had a spin today and dropped to fourth but we were lucky and got it back.”
Hanninen’s result elevates him to fifth in the IRC points table, passing defending champion Nicolas Vouilloz. The Frenchman – Loix’s team-mate in the Benelux Peugeot team – started the rally strongly but was forced out of second place on SS4 when his 207 S2000 caught fire. Another conflagration befell Russian teenager Evgeny Novikov’s privately-entered Skoda Fabia at the end of SS12, the Citroen WRC driver being the third member of his team to have taken up the challenge of the IRC this season.
Another visitor from the world championship had a far more successful weekend – newly-crowned Junior WRC champion Martin Prokop – who finished fifth. As the Czech Republic’s first World Champion, the award of driving the BF Goodrich Drivers Team Peugeot 207 provided Prokop with a unique opportunity to perform in front of his fans.
“It’s been a great event – one I always enjoy but all the more so meeting everyone here as a world champion,” Prokop said. “The Peugeot took a lot of getting used to for me, but it’s a fantastic car and I’m glad that we found a way to go quickly in the end – and keep the car in one piece! It’s been a great drive, and I really enjoyed all the jumps!”
Prokop finished behind one of the Czech Republic’s most established rally drivers, Roman Kresta, in his privately-entered Peugeot. With three victories on the Barum Czech Rally Zlin to his credit, hopes had been high in his camp of taking a record-breaking fourth win – but ultimately the pace of the top trio proved too much. “I didn’t have any big problems all weekend – except how fast the other guys were! To be honest I can’t help but feel disappointed not to have got closer to the record but we will be back again,” he said.
Sixth place fell to another young Czech talent, Pavel Valousek. The former BF Goodrich Drivers Team entry on last year’s event arrived with a privately-entered Skoda Fabia and after mechanical problems on the opening day battled back into the points. “That was disappointing to drop down on the opening leg, and I had to go like crazy to catch up,” he said. “I made a few mistakes, had a few spins, but we got to the finish and showed that we can do a good rally even under pressure.”
Hungarian Janos Toth finished seventh in another Peugeot 207 S2000 with another Czech, Vaclav Pech, eighth after a battle royal for the last of the points positions in which the Ralliart driver overcame considerable hardships. “Our car has a turbo but is heavier than the S2000s so it was always going to be tricky,” Pech said. “But the rain on Saturday afternoon was incredible! We were aquaplaning at 60km/h and had water streaming into the car – it’s been worth it though.”

Kopecky delivered the result Czech fans have been waiting for

Skoupil claims 2WD honours for Abarth

In the IRC 2WD Cup Abarth bucked the odds to take victory courtesy of Czech driver Jiri Skoupil in his little 1600cc Punto. Ranged against him was an armada of 2-litre Honda machinery, from the latest JAS Motorsport-built Civic Type R3s to the tried and tested Civic Vtis, but Skoupil took the advantage early on the final day and held resolutely to take the win.
“It’s fantastic to see ten points in the IRC against my name,” he said. “The car was great, we have worked hard on it in the Czech championship and the rally suited both the car and us.”
IRC regular Denis Millet ended the event fourth in the 2WD standings at the wheel of his Peugeot 207, currently the only 1.6 turbo rally car in international competition. The five points earned on the Barum Czech Rally Zlin promote him to the series lead over Italy’s Manuel Villa.
The rest of the points positions were monopolised by Honda drivers, with Hungary’s Laszlo Vizin taking second in the Civic Type R3 ahead of the older Type R of Egon Smekal, while Skoda was denied its first points of the 2WD Cup season on the penultimate stage after a brave performance from Vlastimil Hodan at the wheel of a Felicia 1600 Kit Car was not quite enough to fend off the Honda of Jan Brezik.

Barum Czech Rally Zlin – facts and figures

Overall Positions
1 Kopecky (CZ) – Skoda Fabia S2000 – 2hrs 24m 21.1s
2 Meeke (GB) – Peugeot 207 S2000 – +1m 0.4s
3 Hanninen (FIN) – Skoda Fabia S2000 – +2m 0.8s
3 Kresta (CZ) – Peugeot 207 S2000 – +2m 10.8s
5 Prokop (CZ) – Peugeot 207 S2000 – +2m 39.6s
6 Valousek (CZ) – Skoda Fabia S2000 – +4m 50.5s
7 Toth (HUN) – Peugeot 207 S2000 – +5m 19.7s
8 Pech (CZ) – Ralliart Evo IX – +5m 23.2s
2WD Cup
1 Skoupil (CZ) – Abarth Punto S1600 -2hrs 44m 29.6s
2 Vizin (H) – Honda Civic Type R3 – +1m 41.0s
3 Smekal (CZ) – Honda Civic Type R – +2m 32.0s
4 Millet (F) – Peugeot 207 RC – +2m 42.0s
5 Krizek (CZ) – Honda Civic Type R – +4m 5.0s
6 Blatak (CZ) – Honda Civic Vti – +5m 51.5s
7 Jakubec (CZ) – Honda Civic Vti – +8m 52.9s
8 Brezik (CZ) – Honda Civic Vti – +10m 2.9s
Stage Winners:
SS1: Hanninen, SS2-3: Kopecky, SS4: Meeke, SS5-6: Kopecky, SS7: Hanninen, SS8-9: Kopecky, SS10: Meeke, SS11: Kopecky, SS12-13: Meeke, SS14-15: Hanninen
Leading Retirements:
Grzyb (CZ) – Peugeot 207 S2000 – SS13, accident
Novikov – Skoda Fabia S2000 – SS12, fire
Loix (B) – Peugeot 207 S2000 – SS11, puncture/damage
Basso (I) – Abarth Grande Punto S2000 – SS8, accident
Odlozilik (CZ) – Peugeot 207 S2000 – SS7, gearbox
Lapdavsky (SK) – Peugeot 207 S2000 – SS7, accident
Tarabus (CZ) – Abarth Grande Punto S2000 – SS6, mechanical
Kuzaj (PL) – Peugeot 207 S2000 – SS5, mechanical
Vouilloz (F) – Peugeot 207 S2000 – SS4, fire
Fontana (I) – Peugeot 207 S2000 – SS3, wheel
Wilks (GB) – Proton Satria Neo S2000 – SS2, engine
Bouffier (F) – Proton Satria Neo S2000 – DNS, engine
IRC Drivers’ standings after 8 of 11 rounds
1 Meeke     42 points
2 Kopecky    39
3 Basso    27
= Loix    27
5 Hanninen    20
6 Vouilloz    19
IRC Manufacturers’ standings after 8 of 11 rounds
1 Peugeot    95 points
2 Skoda    59
3 Ralliart     42
4 Abarth     34
5 Proton     5
6 Honda     1
IRC 2WD Cup Drivers‘ standings after 8 of 11 rounds
1 Millet    31 points
2 Villa    28
3 Tulio    10
= Piepers     10
= Koitla    10
IRC 2WD Cup Manufacturers‘ standings after 8 of 11 rounds
1 Peugeot    69 points
2 Abarth    46
3 Honda    40
4 Volkswagen 16
Remaining Events:
Rally Principe de Asturias (Spain) September 10-12
Rally Sanremo (Italy) September 24-26
RAC MSA Rally of Scotland (UK) November 19-21                  www.rally-irc.com

Torrential rain couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm of tens of thousands of Czech rally fans this evening, as the opening leg of the 2009 Barum Czech Rally Zlin, round 8 of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, saw Skoda Motorsport ace Jan Kopecky claim a one minute advantage at the front of the field.
Kopecky is not only bidding to become the event’s first Czech winner in a Czech car for eight years, but also attempting to close the five-point margin between himself and Peugeot UK driver Kris Meeke at the top of the 2009 IRC points standings. In a dominant drive today the 27-year-old from Opocno withstood the weight of expectation from an army of devoted fans, the furious pace of his rivals and a deluge over the final three stages.
Having started the day in second place after the opening night’s spectator stage in the city centre of Zlin, Kopecky claimed six stage wins in a towering performance. The extremely fast and often very rough stages were described by the Skoda Motorsport driver as ‘brutal’ with no quarter being given among the leading contenders. Nevertheless he was able to build his lead despite losing stage victories to championship leader Meeke and his team mate Juho Hanninen.
“It’s really fast, really tough and there is absolutely no way you can back off even a little,” Kopecky said. “But despite all that our rally has been perfect so far. Everyone has had a few scares – including us – but the car has stood up to the speed and severe bumps really well, and we’re in the best position possible for tomorrow’s final day.”
Second place at the overnight halt is held by Freddy Loix, the Belgian Peugeot driver having run consistently in the top group throughout the day. Having started in close company with his team-mate, defending IRC champion Nicolas Vouilloz, Loix moved up the order when the Frenchman’s car burst into flames and retired on SS4, but has yet to take a stage win.
“It’s all going okay for us and the car is fine, but we’re still a little bit off the leading pace,” he said. “I’m trying everything that I can, but no matter what Mister Kopecky is always a little bit ahead!”
Not only is Loix left trying to close the gap to leader Kopecky, but also fighting a rearguard action against the Peugeot UK entry of championship leader Meeke. Having started the day in 33rd place after a puncture on the spectator stage, Meeke charged up into fourth place over the first three stages of the day.
On SS5 Meeke spun and caused some light damage to his car, but battled back through the remaining stages to end the day just 8.4s behind Loix. “We put ourselves under a lot of pressure after dropping time on last night’s stage, and perhaps pressed on a bit too hard as a result,” he said. “I certainly wasn’t happy to have made that mistake on SS5 but thankfully we’re still in the hunt and there is still a very long way to go.”
Fourth place is held by the second works Skoda Fabia of Juho Hanninen, who won last night’s city centre stage in Zlin and won again on SS6, but struggled to maintain his pace in between these two victories. He has nevertheless recovered and is now battling to hold off the Peugeot of three-time Barum Czech Rally Zlin winner Roman Kresta.
“It was really difficult this morning because the competition was so fast and I just wasn’t comfortable on the asphalt roads, which are so narrow and bumpy in the forests,” Hanninen said. “But as the day went on I got more comfortable with it all and we’re in a good position for tomorrow.”
A dramatic exit from the rally meanwhile befell Abarth team leader Giandomenico Basso, the winner of the previous IRC round in Madeira earlier this month. Despite an encouraging start to hold third place, Basso had said that rainfall would work against the handling of his car on the slippery Czech asphalt
When the downpour began on SS7 he came off but continued having dropped only a few seconds. As the rainfall became torrential on SS8, however, Basso and co-driver Mitia Dotta suffered an enormous impact from which they emerged unscathed – but which forced officials to cancel the stage.
Having initially struggled to acclimatise to his new Peugeot 207 S2000, BF Goodrich Drivers Team entry Martin Prokop duly got up to speed, climbing to sixth place at the overnight halt. The newly-crowned Junior World Rally Championship winner’s pace grew with his confidence in the guest car for this event, and he holds his position in front of Citroen’s teenage World Rally Championship driver, Russian star Evgeny Novikov, who has privately entered a Skoda.
The final points-winning position changed places several times before Luca Rossetti claimed it overnight in the surviving works Abarth, ahead of the leading Ralliart contender, local man Vaclav Pech. For the all-new Proton cars, however, there was little joy to be found in the Czech Republic as computer software problems in the engine management system eliminated both of the promising Satria Neo S2000 cars of Bryan Bouffier and Guy Wilks on the opening night.
In the IRC 2WD Cup local man Egon Smekal leads the way tomorow for Honda, after fellow Honda competitors – Dutchman Marcel Piepers and Norwegian Martin Knudsen – both crashed out. Smekal leads fellow Czech driver Jiri Skoupil by the narrowest of margins in his Abarth, with another Honda belonging to Hungary’s Laszlo Vizin lying third.
Tomorrow’s final day begins at 08:00 (CET) and runs through six special stages before the finish in central Zlin at 16:00.
Ends
For further information please contact media@ircseries.com or telephone +44 7833 470541
Overall Positions
1 Kopecky (CZ) – Skoda Fabia S2000 – 1hr 27m 22.1s
2 Loix (B) – Peugeot 207 S2000 – +1m 1.6s
3 Meeke (UK) – Peugeot 207 S2000 – +1m 10.0s
4 Hanninen (FIN) – Skoda Fabia S2000 – +1m 29.3s
5 Kresta (CZ) – Peugeot 207 S2000 – +1m 42.2s
6 Prokop (CZ) – Peugeot 207 S2000 – +2m 20.5s
7 Novikov (RUS) – Skoda Fabia S2000 – +2m 42.0s
8 Rossetti (I) – Abarth Grande Punto S2000 – +2m 50.9s
2WD Cup
1 Smekal (CZ) – Honda – 1hr 39m 28.5s
2 Skoupil (CZ) – Abarth – +2.9s
3 Vizin (H) – Honda – +1m 17.1s
Stage Winners:
SS1: Hanninen, SS2-3: Kopecky, SS4: Meeke, SS5-6: Kopecky, SS7: Hanninen, SS8-9: Kopecky
Leading Retirements:
Basso (I) – Abarth Grande Punto S2000 – SS8, accident
Odlozilik (CZ) – Peugeot 207 S2000 – SS7, gearbox
Lapdavsky (SK) – Peugeot 207 S2000 – SS7, accident
Tarabus (CZ) – Abarth Grande Punto S2000 – SS6, mechanical
Kuzaj (PL) – Peugeot 207 S2000 – SS5, mechanical
Vouilloz (F) – Peugeot 207 S2000 – SS4, fire
Fontana (I) – Peugeot 207 S2000 – SS3, wheel
Wilks (GB) – Proton Satria Neo S2000 – SS2, engine
Bouffier (F) – Proton Satria Neo S2000 – DNS, engine

Jan Kopecky was dominant on the first day of the Barum Czech Rally Zlin

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