Barum Czech Rally Zlín 

Qualifying Stage won Lukyanuk, Kopecký right behind him

25. 8. 2017 - Roman Ordelt

On a bright Friday morning 44 crews underwent Qualifying Stage in Žlutava (length 4.55 km). It seems that the 47th edition of Barum Czech Rally Zlín 2017 is going in the same spirit as last year. Results suggest that the two strongest drivers are going be again Russian Alexey Lukyanuk and Jan Kopecký. Third was the unbreakable Václav Pech who lost a bit over 3 seconds on Lukyanuk. Here are their thoughts about the first test.

Kajetan Kajetanowicz (POL, Ford Fiesta R5, Start. no. 1)
'This Qualifying Stage was quite bumpy, but on the other hand, it's typical for Barum rally. We're going to change the setup. This section is narrow with trees, so very difficult for crews.

Jan Kopecký (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. no. 2)
'I think we did well this morning, but it could have been even better if it wasn't for the puncture, at least that what it looked like.'

Bruno Magalhães (PRT, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. no 3)
'It was good and our car is doing great. We changed couple things for the Qualifying stage and we're ready to achieve good result on Barum rally.'

Alexey Lukyanuk (RUS, Ford Fiesta R5, Start. no. 4)
'I didn't expect to do that well, we didn't want to go full speed, so it's going great.'

Bryan Bouffier (FRA, Ford Fiesta R5, Start. no. 5)
'We had some issues back in Poland, but it didn't stop us, still it was complex.'

Griebel Marijan (GER, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. no 6)
'Unfortunately, I hit some stone which led to a puncture. This isn't a key stage, so it's fine.'

Václav Pech (CZE, Ford Fiesta R5, Start. no 7)
'It was OK but quite slippery.'

Grzyb Grzegorz (POL, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. no. 8)
'I have a feeling that Barum rally won't be easy on us, there a lot fine drivers here. Hopefully, we set a good pace and finish.'

Roman Kresta (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. no. 9)
'It was good. Some parts were slippery, however, it's a long way to finish.'

José Maria López (ESP, Peugeot 208 T16, Start. no. 10)
'Actually, it didn't go well for us. We damaged a dumper.'

Pavel Valoušek (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. no. 11)
'So far we made no mistake and we're happy to back in Škoda car, it's been a long time.'

Josh Moffett (IRL, Ford Fiesta R5, Start. no. 12)
'This rally is intricate and our time reflects it.'

Martin Koči (SVK, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. no. 14)
'I think it went well, even though the tyres wear off quite quickly. I'm trying to enjoy it.'

Tomáš Kostka (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. no. 16)
'Our aim was to go easy, not to do any harm to our car and it worked.'

José António Suárez (ESP, Peugeot 208 T16, Start. no. 17)
'I think we're doing well and I'm happy with our time. You really have to fight here to win.'

Jan Černý (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. no. 18)
'This was a lovely stage, unfortunately we made some mistakes. My driving has to get better.'

Nikolay Gryazin (LVA, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. no. 19)
'I think there were some mistakes on our part. We should have chosen different tyres, not the soft ones for this surface.'

Antonín Tlusťák (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. no. 20)
'I don't know exactly how fast others are, but man, they're fast. It's difficult to keep up.'

Łukasz Habaj (POL, Ford Fiesta R5, Start. no. 21)
'We didn't have any issues because we were careful. It's going to be difficult really and we won't go to any extreme.'

Jarosław Szeja (POL, Ford Fiesta R5, Start. no. 22)
'It's just very slippery here and we had deal with a puncture. I hope it'll get better.'