Barum Czech Rally Zlín 

Václav Pech won the Leg 1 and the Czech Championship

31. 8. 2014 - Roman Ordelt, press relations officer BCRZ

The Czech crew Václav Pech, Petr Uhel on Mini John Cooper Works S2000 won the first leg of the 44th Barum Czech Rally Zlín. The EuroOil - Invelt Team driver from Plzeň secured his seventh Czech title. The German crew Sepp Wiegand, Frank Christian (Škoda Fabia S2000) of the Škoda Motorsport team came in second losing 54, 1 second. The third was another Czech crew Tomáš Kostka and Miroslav Houšť (Ford Fiesta R5) who lost by 1:12, 7 minutes. Troják was a true disaster for the three leading drivers.

After the Friday's Super Special Stage in the streets of Zlín the contest continued at a brisk pace during the Saturday's eight stages in total length of 128 km. After the first running of the stages Slušovice and Maják Kevin Abbring with his factory Peugeot 208 T16 worked up his margin on Esapekka Lappi from Findland (Škoda Fabia S2000) and the third position was occupied by the Irish driver Craig Breen on a factory Peugeot as well. However, their hopes to conquer the title were shattered on the longest and most difficult stage Troják. The leader of the FIA ERC Lappi had an accident; Abbring was forced to retire due to engine damage and Breen as well after going out of the road. The Czech fans were saddened by the retirement of the three-time winner of the Barum Rally Roman Kresta (Škoda Fabia S2000). The damaged exhaust was fatal for him.

The Czech champion Václav Pech made the most out of the sudden drop outs and took the lead with almost one minute margin. The Polish driver Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Ott Tänak from Estonia, both driving Ford Fiesta R5, showed an improvement throughout the first leg. Six drivers from the Czech Republic reached the top ten thanks to the unexpected retirements. The Czech Adam Kobliha (Renault Clio R3) ruled the 2WD category; FIA Junior ERC is led by Andrea Crugnola from Italy on Peugeot 208 R2 followed by the French driver Stéphane Lefebvre (Peugeot 208 R2) and the German Marijan Griebel (Opel Adam R2). At the top of the production car category is Martin Březík from the Czech Republic (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX), second one is the British driver Mark Higgins (Subaru Impreza WRX STi) and third place is held by the Hungarian driver András Hadik (Subaru Impreza STi R4).

On the last day of August the Barum Czech Rally Zlín will culminate in the final six stages Zádveřice, Pindula and Kudlovice in total length of 109 km. The rally will finish at 4 p.m. in front of the City hall where the prices and medals will be awarded.

Leading positions: SS 1 - 3: Abbring, SS 4 Kresta, SS 5 – 9 Pech
SS wins: 3 – Abbring, Pech, 2 – Tarabus, 1 – Kresta