Barum Czech Rally Zlín 

Drivers’ view on the Spectators’ Super Special Stage

26. 8. 2017 - Evžen Gargulák, Karolína Lečbychová

We asked the best drivers of ERC and ERC Junior about their feelings about such unique stage. Some of them experienced punctures and technical difficulties because of which there was a delay on the start that caused further problems. The last driver arrived half past midnight.

Munnings Catie (GBR, Peugeot 208 R2, Start. No. 52)
'We broke a wheel rim and it took longer than we expected to change it.'

Tomaszczyk Jerzy (POL, Ford Fiesta R2, Start. No. 50)
'It was a bad begging for us. We broke the wheel on the first run. After then driving wasn't so easy.'

Molinaro Tamara (ITA, Opel Adam R2, Start. No. 49)
'It was a very difficult stage. It was a wakeup call for me.'

Falcón Emma (ESP, Citroën DS3 R3T, Start. No. 48)
'At first, I thought the lights were off, because I couldn't see a thing.'

Brož Dominik (CZE, Peugeot 208 R2, Start. No. 47)
'It was a fantastic stage. There's a lot of people and make a wonderful atmosphere. I enjoyed it very much and I'm satisfied with the setup. We'll see tomorrow.'

Wagner Julian (AUT, Peugeot 208 R2, Start. No. 44)
'It wasn't bad but the rally starts tomorrow.'

Banaz Buğra (TUR, Ford Fiesta R2T, Start. No. 42)
'It was great. I enjoyed it. The best spectators I have ever seen.'

Wagner Simon (AUT, Peugeot 208 R2, Start. No. 39)
'It was OK, we didn't make any mistakes. Car before us had a puncture that slowed us down a bit.'

Mareš Filip (CZE, Peugeot 208 R2, Start. No. 38)
'It feels the same like last year. I really enjoyed it. We were careful since the rally starts tomorrow.'

Zawada Aleks (POL, Opel Adam R2, Start. No. 37)
'It was fun. There are lot of spectators. It seems to me that Jari Huttunen and we are going to be neck to neck, but we'll try to push tomorrow.'

Huttunen Jari (FIN, Opel Adam R2, Start. No. 36)
'It was OK. I had hot brakes, we will try to find our rhythm tomorrow.'

Remennik Sergei (RUS, Mitsubishi Lancer EVO X, Start. No. 34)
'It was a cool stage. It was easy compared to what's on the menu tomorrow.'

Érdi Tibor jun. (HUN, Mitsubishi Lancer EVO X, Start. No. 32)
'It reminds me of Formula 1, however, I prefer rally between forests.'

Melegari Zelindo (ITA, Mitsubishi Lancer EVO X, Start. No. 31)
'I can't wait to go to bed and have a good night's sleep.'

Dumas Romain (FRA, Porsche 997 GT3, Start. No. 30)
'It was the best possible stage for us since there's no gravel here. I think we did well.'

Német László (HUN, Ford Fiesta R5, Start. No. 29)
'We enjoyed this stage. For us it was a warm up, to get to know our car even better.'

von Thurn und Taxis Albert (DEU, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. No. 28)
'It was a good fun. The roads are slippery and tricky but it's a cool stage thanks to the fans.'

Tarabus Jaromír (CZE, Škoda Fabia S2000, Start. No. 26)
'Everything was OK. But there was a big gap between the cars, so the tyres cooled down.'

Bostanci Murat (TUR, Ford Fiesta R5, Start. No. 25)
'We made some small mistakes, and had to deal with understeering but otherwise OK. I'm glad we didn't hit any pavement.'

Vlček Martin (CZE, Ford Fiesta R5, Start. No. 24)
'I think the fans are having a great time, so do we. I think our car is overheated.'

Botka Dávid (HUN, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. No. 23)
'It was a very good stage.'

Szeja Jarosław (CZE, Ford Fiesta R5, Start. No. 22)
'It's an amazing stage with a lot of people.'

Habaj Łukasz (POL, Ford Fiesta R5, Start. No. 21)
'We made some small mistakes, luckily nothing major. It's quite special race in the night with many spectators around you.'

Tlusťák Antonín (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. No. 20)
'I don't like stages like this. We didn't slide. The tyres made first run more difficult.'

Gryazin Nikolay (LVA, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. No. 19)
'There was a big delay on the start and the first lap was slipper.'

Černý Jan (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. No. 18)
'We enjoyed the stage, there are a lot of spectators along the track. It's difficult to keep the line because there's a great atmosphere and you want to make a show. But the proper rally starts tomorrow.'

Suárez José António (ESP, Peugeot 208 T16, Start. No. 17)
'We were careful because we could lose a lot and there was nothing to gain on this stage.'

Kostka Tomáš (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. No. 16)
'We had to wait for a long time before we got on track so we decided to be more careful.'

Koči Martin (SVK, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. No. 14)
'Breaks were cold, because we had to wait on the start. And then they heated up too quickly and were less efficient.'

Moffett Josh (IRL, Ford Fiesta R5, Start. No. 12)
'It was something quite new for me and I think we did a good job despite some minor issues with a pop off.'

Valoušek Pavel (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. No. 11)
'Some parts were more slippery than I expected. Luckily, we survived. It's going to a big fight tomorrow.'

López José Maria (ESP, Peugeot 208 T16, Start. No. 10)
'It strange to see so many people around the tracks. I think it was too long for an urban stage for my taste.'

Kresta Roman (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. No. 9)
'It's fantastic, lot of people, just amazing.'

Grzyb Grzegorz (POL, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. No. 8)
'I haven't been here for 10 years, it's just spectacular. I slid a bit but we had to keep a line.'

Pech Václav (CZE, Ford Fiesta R5, Start. No. 7)
'It wasn't good. We had some issues with a pop off.'

Griebel Marijan (DEU, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. No. 6)
'R5 cars are faster so we tried to be careful.'

Bouffier Bryan (FRA, Ford Fiesta R5, Start. No. 5)
'It was a clear stage as it's quite easy to make a mistake here. We lost some time.'

Lukyanuk Alexey (RUS, Ford Fiesta R5, Start. No. 4)
'Actually, I had a hard time pushing on a break, because my leg gets easily tired.'

Magalhaes Bruno (PRT, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. No. 3)
'It was difficult. We had problems with understeering.'

Kopecký Jan (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5, Start. No. 2)
'The first lap is always tricky, it's slippery but then you see through it.'

Kajetanowicz Kajetan (POL, Ford Fiesta R5, Start. No. 1)
'We were waiting before the start, the tyres got colder. This is never easy. We're hoping for a restart tomorrow.'