Articles

Flash info after four Special Stages

29. 8. 2015 - Petr Dujka, Jakub Kudláč

The 45th Barum Czech Rally Zlín has already seen drivers' performance at the first three scheduled stages on Saturday morning. All the crews has already been at Regrouping and we have interview some of them at service zone Otrokovice.

Jan Kopecký (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5), starting no. 1
"It looks very promising, we are in the lead. The car is perfect and quite firm because at Slušovice stage we hit some bump but the car had our back."

Alexey Lukyanuk (BLR, Ford Fiesta R5), starting no. 5
"Actually, I feel really relaxed. Of course, we are slightly faster than we expected so it is very good for the first run. I feel that we are doing safe pace but it is still not that slow as we had a problem on the first stage today. We spun. We are still learning about our car and we have a lot of work to do to develop our skills on tarmac. But things look good and I feel confident."

Václav Pech (CZE, Mini John Cooper Works S2000), starting no. 4
"It is quite hot but otherwise everything is fine."

Kajetan Kajetanowicz (POL, Ford Fiesta R5), starting no. 3
"Everything is working well. We had a lot of fun on these stages. The Grip is fantastic. Not everywhere but that is Barum Rally, right? The Grip is changing all the time as you know. But I am happy with this loop. We did not do any mistakes so hopefully, we can be faster on the second loop."

Craig Breen (IRL, Peugeot 208 T16), starting no. 2
"We had a puncture on Pindula stage so we lost some time there and then on the last stage we had to be very careful because we could not take another puncture as we have had only one spare. Well, it was not so bad."

Tomáš Kostka (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5), starting no. 8
"We chose to do these stages in a more conscious way to see what our car is capable of. It was fine except for Maják where its performance was slightly under its possibilities."

Pavel Valoušek (CZE, Škoda Fabia S2000), starting no. 10
"It is very demanding rally. It is hot and the special stages are hard. We are going as fast as we can and trying to avoid any mistakes. So far our tactic is working out."

Hermen Kobus (NLD, Škoda Fabia R5), starting no. 18
"Everything is working just fine. So far, we are learning a lot. We learned more than in the past two years in total together. It is like an adventure. The first stage was not too difficult, we had some fun but the time was not so good. I really enjoyed the forest stages. I have never seen anything like this in my life."

Hermann Neubauer (AUT, Ford Fiesta S2000), starting no. 9
"I have to concentrate more to feel confident on these difficult roads. We are doing 1.5 or 1.6 second per one kilometer that is very slow. I have to be faster. Moreover, we had a blown up engine but still the main problem is not the car but me."

Antonín Tlusťák (CZE, Škoda Fabia S2000), starting no. 15
"We did not performed well at Slušovice stage. I was over motivated and I hit a retarder and a fender went off. Then at full speed we hit a pheasant so the hood is damaged and the car smells really bad. Pindula stage was good and Maják stage was average."

Charles Martin (FRA, Peugeot 208 T16), starting no. 14
"The forest based stages are enormously difficult. The roads are tricky. Except for the puncture in the first stage it went well. Car's setting is far from perfect but I still intend to speed up in the following stages. "

Miroslav Jakeš (CZE, Citroën DS3 R5), starting no. 20
"Unfortunately, on the first stage we went off the road for a second. At Pindula stage we made a spin because I was too fast at that moment. Maják stage occurred without any issues and we are happy even with the time. We cannot do any more mistakes and we have to push the pedal."

Jan Jelínek (CZE, Škoda Fabia S2000), starting no. 22
"It is pretty fast and we cut the turns a lot, but we are satisfied."

Jan Černý (CZE, Škoda Fabia S2000), starting no. 17
"SS are not as I envisioned them. It is bad. SS Pindula and Maják are beautiful but since it is my first time here with this car I am learning a lot and hopefully, as the time passes we will speed up."

Sepp Wiegand (DEU, Škoda Fabia S2000), starting no. 11
"We are struggling with everything, the setup, the grip. I am doing my best but it is far from my usual driving performance."

Ralfs Sirmacis (LVA, Peugeot 208 R2), starting no. 30
"Due to the puncture on the first stage today we lost some seconds. Nonetheless, it is interesting out here."

Emil Bergkvist (SWE, Opel Adam R2), starting no. 27
"I feel quite good. We also had the puncture on the first stage the rest of the morning was OK. I look forward to the afternoon but it is going to really hot."