Barum Czech Rally Zlín 

Triumphant Václav Pech: our start did not look good!

1. 9. 2014 - Michael Kachlíř, Roman Ordelt, press centre BCRZ

The final press conference wrapped up the 44th Barum Czech Rally Zlín 2014. The absolute top three drivers have shared their views with media representatives. The Czech crew Václav Pech and Petr Uhel (Mini John Cooper Works S2000) took the first place followed by the German duo Sepp Wiegand, Frank Christian (Škoda Fabia S2000) and another Czech crew Tomáš Kostka and Miroslav Houšť (Ford Fiesta R5) was third.

Václav Pech and Petr Uhel triumphed for the second time after eleven years and achieved the seventh Czech title as well. 'Considering the amount of competition, we didn't hope to scrape the victory. The beginning wasn't ideal because at Slušovice we tore off the engine bracket. It was a trivial repair, but we couldn't do it on road and had to get to the service. At the expanse of dropped out favourites we got back to the rally to fight for the top positions. We built up a minute margin and with hard work we kept it till the end. It was a fantastic weekend,' said the 37-year-old Pech. His co-driver Petr Uhel was satisfied with the organization of the competition. 'From the organization point of view I really liked the race. There weren't any downtime periods and we had a nice weekend over here,' said Uhel.

The German driver Sepp Wiegand displayed his delight at their second place. After tough 237 kilometres the difference between him and Tomáš Kostka was only 0, 2 seconds. 'Before the start we didn't expect to score such great position. The Barum Rally is hard and we're still rookies here. Local super stages are difficult and the asphalt is bumpy and glassy. We're satisfied with the second place. We didn't make any major mistakes and that's why we have beaten Tomáš Kostka. The favourite's drop outs conspired to bring us success,' stated the 23-year-old driver of the Škoda Auto Deutschland. His co-driver Frank Christian admitted that the Barum Rally is among the most demanding competitions. 'It wasn't easy rally and I'd like to thank everyone from our team for everything they did for us and the organizers as well. I also thank Tomáš Kostka, who took it well and congratulated us. We appreciate it,' acknowledged Christian the rival's gesture.

Despite being so close to the second place and ending up third, Tomáš Kostka, the Czech driver of the Slovakian team Rufa Šport, showed no signs of disappointment. 'This year's Barum Rally exceeded all our expectations. Our wonderful result was due to our knowledge of local roads and the favourite's retirements. Just like any other crew we hit technical problems. Fortunately, they weren't major. From our perspective the final position is excellent,' told the 30-year-old local driver. The Barum Rally is a motorsport festival not only for the spectators but the drivers as well. The experienced co-driver Miroslav Houšť was also pleased. 'The Barum Rally is 'the competition'. I participated here for the first time in 1987. I'm more of a hobby co-driver. Thank you Tomáš for the opportunity to participate in the category R5 car. This is another step further in our careers,' said Houšť.