Barum Czech Rally Zlín 

Kopecký lost at Pindula, the forefront is nearly aligned!

28. 8. 2021 - Jakub Kudláč

The feared and demanding SS Pindula did not ideally work out for Jan Kopecký, the leading driver of the Barum Czech Rally Zlín. He lost 6.8 seconds behind Mikkelsen and is only two tenths of a second ahead. The third is Erik Cais with a loss of 2.7 seconds to the race leader. The elite trio broke away from their competitors in the European Championship classification, as the fourth Simon Wagner has a loss of 21.4 seconds on Cais.

At Saturday's third special stage Komárov (length 8.46 km), the Norwegian driver Andreas Mikkelsen noticed his first victory in the special stage within the European classification. He whizzed the short stage Komárov, which is only 8.46 kilometers long, in his Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo in 4:39.0 minutes. Twenty-two-year-old driver Erik Cais with a Ford Fiesta R5 MkII was six tenths behind him, the crew of Jan Kopecký and Jan Hloušek took the third position with one second loss. Filip Mareš finished sixth, Miroslav Jakeš took the ninth position together with the Frenchman Bonato in a time of 4:43.7 minutes. All of them from the forefront successfully reached the finish line of this SS, which was finally absolutely dominated by seven tenths by Václav Pech, who runs only in the Czech championship.

The short Komárov stage was followed by the feared Pindula with its almost 19 km. It was beneficial especially to young drivers, as it was best handled by the Barum rally ambassador Erik Cais and his co-driver Jindřiška Žáková with a time of 10:19.9 minutes. The Norwegian driver Mikkelsen significantly outperformed Jan Kopecký for the second time in a row. From the second place he ran to the eight-time champion of the Zlín race by 6.8 seconds. Kopecký finished fourth at Pindula, Filip Mareš pushed himself to the third place (all three in the Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo). The reigning Czech champion Václav Pech (Ford Focus WRC) is the third fastest in the Czech championship and fourth in the overall classification with a loss of 8.9 seconds. The Pilsen driver lost significantly in the opening pass at Pindula, where he was 21.7 seconds slower from the winning Cais.

Only Ken Torn from Estonia (Ford Fiesta Rally3) left in the ERC Junior category. Polish driver Dariusz Poloński (Fiat 124 Abarth RGT) set the best time in Komárov and Pindula in the ERC2 category, but overall, Hungarian Tibor Érdi junior continues to lead by 3.4 seconds. In the ERC3 + ERC3J category leads the Hungarian Martin László (Peugeot 208 Rally4), who won Pindula.

Classification after SS5 Pindula:
1. Kopecký, Hloušek (CZE, Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) 40:00,0 min
2. Mikkelsen, Andersson (NOR/SWE, Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) + 0,2 s
3. Cais, Žáková (CZE, Ford Fiesta R5 MkII) + 2,7 s
4. Pech, Uhel (CZE, Ford Focus WRC) + 8,9 s
5. S. Wagner, Winter (AUT, Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) + 24,1 s
6. Marczyk, Gospodarczyk (POL, Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) + 30,5 s
7. Herczig, Ferencz (HUN, Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) + 32,2 s
8. Mareš, Bucha (CZE, Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) + 35,8 s
9. Huttunen, Lukka (FIN, Hyundai i20 R5) + 51,3 s
10. Bonato, Boullound (FRA, Citroën C3 Rally2) + 1:35,1 min

23. Torn, Pannas (EST, Ford Fiesta Rally3), 1. místo ERCJ + 2:59,4 min
25. Griebel, Braun (DEU, Opel Corsa Rally4), 1. místo 2WD + 3:15,8 min
28. Érdi jr., Csökö (HUN, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X), 1. ERC2 + 3:50,6 min
41. László, Berendi (HUN, Peugeot 208 Rally4), 1. ERC3 + 4:58,0 min

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