Barum Czech Rally Zlín 

Previous year: Kopecký won for the third time, Fabia again dominated

25. 6. 2014 - Roman Ordelt, press relations officer BCRZ

Czech driver Jan Kopecký and his co-driver Pavel Dresler won the 43rd Barum Czech Rally Zlín, they used a factory prepared Škoda Fabia S2000. For Kopecký it was his third victory at this rally. Second place was taken up by Václav Pech (Mini John Cooper Works S2000) who lost 1:01,6 minutes. The third place was achieved by Jaromír Tarabus (Škoda Fabia S2000) who lost 2:32,7 minutes to the winner. Škoda Fabia S2000 cars were again dominant, five cars Top 10 of the final classification were made by the Czech manufacturer.

Jan Kopecký of the Škoda Motorsport team laid the basis for his victory on Saturday by winning all eight stages and gained more than 30 seconds to Pech. On Sunday he did not risk on the wet stages, but kept safe distance between Pech and himself. Pech admitted problems with the choice of tyres, which deprived him of the chance to win and the margin between him and Kopecký finally overrun ne minute.

Tarabus has given an excellent performance. However, it was Roman Kresta's (Škoda Fabia S2000) puncture that helped him to achieve the third place. Despite that Kresta did well on the wet route of the second leg. Another triple winner of the Barum Czech Rally Zlín and local hero won four stages out of six on Sunday. "For a successful result you need a perfect team and we have one. The car worked perfectly and so did the co-driver so I'm happy," said Kopecký who visibly slowed down in the second leg and focused on a flawless performance. However he managed to strengthen his leading position in terms of the FIA ERC classification.

The production car category was won by Miroslav Jakeš (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) who used the technical difficulties his rival Jaroslav Orsák (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX R4) on Saturday and beat him by 1 minute and 16 seconds. The two-wheel drive category was won by Jan Černý (Peugeot 208 R2) who ruled the classification since the third stage. He beat Elwis Chentre (Škoda Fabia R2) by a minute and 13 seconds.

Final overall standings of the Barum Czech Rally Zlín 2013
1. Kopecký, Dresler (CZE, Škoda Fabia S2000) 2:15:23,0 h
2. Pech, Uhel (CZE, Mini John Cooper Works S2000) + 1:01,6 min
3. Tarabus, Trunkát (CZE, Škoda Fabia S2000) + 2:32,7 min
4. Wiegand, Christian (DEU, Škoda Fabia S2000) + 3:04,3 min
5. Kresta, Gross (CZE, Škoda Fabia S2000) + 3:58,7 min
6. Jakeš, Norek (CZE, Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX) + 6:35,8 min
7. Orsák, L. Kostka (CZE, Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX R4) + 7:52,1 min
8. Valoušek, Škardová (CZE, Ford Fiesta R5) + 7:52,6 min
9. Tlusťák, Vyoral (CZE, Škoda Fabia S2000) + 8:27,4 min
10. Kořístka, Drozd (CZE, Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX) + 9:37,2 min