Lukyanuk is in the lead after SS4, Kopecký had a puncture

Articles

25. 8. 2018 - Petr Říha

The Russian duo Alexey Lukyanuk and Alexey Arnautov (Ford Fiesta R5) is in the lead after four stages of the 48th Barum Czech Rally. Jan Kopecký and Pavel Dresler (Škoda Fabia R5) lost some time due to a flat tyre and fell to the third place. The second one is a Russian-Latvian duo Nikolay Gryazin and Jaroslav Fedorov (Škoda Fabia R5) the conditions probably could not be worst due to rain, which made the roads very slippery and muddy.

After winning the night stage, Jan Kopecký kept a great pace at the beginning of Leg 1. But on SS Semetín he suffered a puncture a lost half a minute on Gryazin, who won the stage. Because of this he lost the podium for a while but he got there on the very next stage. Special stage Rajnochovice put a stop to Václav Pech's hope for a good result. He had to retire due to technical issues of his Ford Fiesta R5.

The ERC leader Alexey Lukyanuk is showing his fine driving skills right behind him is Gryazin. Gryazin is 4.4 seconds behind Lukyanuk after four stages. And Kopecký is more than 20 seconds behind.

Dani Sordo (Hyundai i20 R5) is fourth in his premiere on Barum Czech Rally Zlín. Sordo is losing also 24 seconds and he lost most time in the streets of Zlín.

There are in total five Czech driver in the top ten. Filip Mareš is fifth, Miroslav Jakeš is right behind him, Jaromír Tarabus is eight (all Škoda Fabia R5) and top ten is closing Martin Vlček (Ford Fiesta R5).

Barum rally has already ended for Rhys Yates from the Great Britain (Škoda Fabia R5) and for Roman Odložilík (Ford Fiesta R5) who had technical problems. In the 2WD category, Latvian Martinš Sesks (Opel Adam R2) is the fastest one in the European classification but Czech Erik Cais leads the category (Peugeot 208 R2).

There are five more stages scheduled for Saturday and six more are on Sunday. The winner of the three-day long rally will appear on the náměstí Míru Square on Sunday 26th August.

Standings after SS 4:
1. Lukyanuk, Arnautov (RUS, Ford Fiesta R5) 27:08.8 min
2. Grjazin, Fjodorov (LVA/RUS, Škoda Fabia R5) + 4.4 s
3. Kopecký, Dresler (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5) + 20.7 s
4. Sordo, Del Barrio (ESP, Hyundai i20 R5) + 23.6 s
5. Mareš, Hloušek (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5) + 30.3 s
6. Jakeš, Machů (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5) + 33.9 s
7. Kreim, Christian (DEU, Škoda Fabia R5) + 42.1 s
8. Tarabus, Trunkát (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5) + 46.2 s
9. B. Magalhaes, H. Magalhaes (PRT, Škoda Fabia R5) + 56.5 s
10. Vlček, Žáková (CZE, Ford Fiesta R5) + 57.9 s

23. Tempestini, Itu (ROU, Fiat 124 Abarth), 1st place RGT + 2:49.6 min
27. Cais, Krajča (CZE, Peugeot 208 R2), 1st place 2WD + 3:00.0 min

Certina