Barum Czech Rally Zlín 

Kostka attacks Wiegand's second position

31. 8. 2014 - Michael Kachlíř, Roman Ordelt, press centre BCRZ

The Leg 2 of the 44th Barum Czech Rally Zlín 2014 began on the SS Zádveřice (length 14, 87 km). The Czech drivers confirmed their dominance as the six of them managed to get in the top ten. Jaromír Tarabus (Škoda Fabia S2000) passed the stage in the fastest time of 8:07, 2 minutes. Tomáš Kostka and Roman Odložilík both on Ford Fiesta R5 were lagging behind by 1, 1 seconds and 1, 4 seconds.

The leader of the competition Václav Pech played it safe and finished seventh while losing 5, 4 seconds. The Polish driver Kajetan Kajetanowicz (Ford Fiesta R5) is keeping up with the top drivers from the fourth place. Sepp Wiegand (Škoda Fabia S2000) crossed the finish line as sixth.

The first running of Pindula (length 18, 43 km) was won by Esapekka Lappi, who got back in the race thanks to the Superrally rule. He passed the classical stage Pindula in 10:02, 3 minutes and behind him five Czech drivers - Orsák, Kostka, Pech, Tarabus and Odložilík, lined up. Pech increased his leading margin and Kostka is attempting to get to the second position. The Ukrainian driver Vitalij Puškar (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO) dropped out because of engine troubles.

A surprising victory achieved Jaroslav Orsák (Škoda Fabia S2000) on the SS Kudlovice (length 21, 41 km), right behind was Lappi and Tarabus. Kostka managed to close the gap between him and Wiegand by 4 seconds while Pech is still ahead of them by more than one minute. The leader of the production cars category Martin Březík (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX) lost valuable time due to troubles with differential and consequently András Hadik from Hungary (Subaru Impreza STi R4) took the lead.