Qualifying stage won by Alexey Lukyanuk

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26. 8. 2016 - Jakub Hofbauer

On Friday morning at Barum Czech Rally Zlín there could be heard rumbling engines for the first time. On well known section from Komárov to Pohořelice was run 4.71 km long qualifying stage which will be decisive for choosing the starting positions for Saturday's leg.

The fastest time was set by Alexey Lukyanuk driving a Ford Fiesta R5. Jan Kopecký with a Škoda Fabia R5 was 0.3 seconds slower, third time belongs to the reigning ERC Champion Kajetan Kajetanowicz with another Ford. Elite Top 5 was reached also by Škoda drivers Ralfs Sirmacis, who is doing his first tarmac outing with a 4WD car at this rally, and local driver Tomáš Kostka. The start of the stage was slightly postponed due to oil on the road leaked from a car of Artur Muradian.

Starting positions selection will go on prior to the ceremonial start of the rally at Zlín's náměstí Míru square at 3.30 p.m.

Drivers' reactions:

Kajetan Kajetanowicz (POL, Ford Fiesta R5, St. no. 1):
„It was a good qualification stage for us. I didn't want ot chose the position as the first one because I don't know, which position is the best for this rally. The roads are dirty, we don't want to go first and clean the road."

Jan Kopecký (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5, St. no. 2):
„It was careful from us, we were waiting on the start for a long time and the tyres got cold. But the race starts tomorrow. We also were off the road, there leaked oil from the car in front of us, I didn't see it and went to a ditch. Luckily there was nothing inside."

Bryan Bouffier (FRA, Citroën DS3 R5, St. no. 3):
„We have some troubles with the car, I hope we can fix it. Regarding the stages, they ar not easy. I'm not sure if we know them well. "

Alexey Lukyanuk (RUS, Ford Fiesta R5, St. no. 4):
„I don't know the results, but we drove well. Our tyres got cold when we were waiting on the start line for cleaning the track, so we drove calm and steady to avoid any mistake."

Jaromír Tarabus (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5, St. no. 5):
„We didn't know if the road was cleaned properly after the oil leak, so we were careful. There was some dirt in curves, but it will be fine."

Ralfs Sirmacis (LVA, Škoda Fabia R5, St. no. 6):
„We were waiting for the road getting clean, so on cold tyres it was quite slippery. We drove carefully."

Pavel Valoušek (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5, St. no. 7):
„Lots of dirt on the road so we are happy to make no mistakes."

Hermen Kobus (NLD, Škoda Fabia R5, St. no. 8):
„It was really slippery, in one place there was an oil on the road so we had to be careful. We must get back to the racing mode."

Qualification stage results:
1. Alexey Lukyanuk – Alexeyj Arnautov (RUS, FORD Fiesta R5) 2:25.143
2. Jan Kopecký – Pavel Dresler (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5) + 0.315
3. Kajetan Kajetanowicz – Jaroslaw Baran (POL, Ford Fiesta R5) + 1.262
4. Ralfs Sirmacis – Artur Šimins (LVA, Škoda Fabia R5) + 2.511
5. Tomáš Kostka – Ladislav Kučera (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5) + 2.534
6. Lukasz Habaj – Piotr Wos (POL, Ford Fiesta R5) + 2.615
7. Jaromír Tarabus – Daniel Trunkát (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5) + 2.714
8. Roman Odložilík – Martin Tureček (CZE, Ford Fiesta R5) +3.357
9. Fabian Kreim – Frank Christian (DEU, Škoda Fabia R5) +3.728
10. Dávid Botka – Peter Szeles (HUN, Citroën DS3 R5) + 3.736
11. Jan Černý – Petr Černohorský (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5) + 3.852
12. Pavel Valoušek – Veronika Havelková (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5) + 3.870
13. Hermen Kobus – Davy Thierie (NLD, Škoda Fabia R5) + 4.062
14. Cédric Cherain – Filip Cuvelier (BEL, Ford Fiesta R5) + 4.090
15. Martin Vlček – Jindřiška Žáková (CZE, Ford Fiesta R5) + 5.012