Barum Czech Rally Zlín 

Only six cars completed the race in heavy rain at Bunč, Kopecký triumphed

28. 8. 2022 - Jakub Kudláč

Sunday afternoon's passes did not change anything about the winner of the 51st Barum Czech Rally Zlín, Jan Kopecký celebrated his tenth jubilee victory and seventh in a row. The drivers were troubled by rain at SS Bunč, which was cancelled after the accident of Italian Battistolli. Powerstage at Pindula won Adam Březík, and Cais had a puncture!

Sunday afternoon started with the second pass through SS Bunč and looking at the weather, it probably couldn't have turned out any other way than it did. Especially in the second half of the track, the rain was very heavy and it was almost impossible to race. In the end, only six drivers made it to the finish line. Hungarian László said at the finish that he had never ridden a more difficult stage in his life. Estonian Torn had a few tough moments and ended up off the track and cracked the radiator. After that, the Italian Battistolli crashed heavily and the stage was cancelled. The crew is more or less fine.

The best time at Bunč was finally set by Adam Březík, 9:55.4 minutes. In comparison, his first pass was 1:11.3 minutes faster. His time was then given to the rest of the leading drivers that didn't get on the track, including the complete top five. It's a great pity that the SS couldn't be completed, if the drivers had been braver here they could still have shuffled the order a lot!

Maják was more peaceful to the drivers, the second passes were even faster. The first place was taken by Austrian Wagner, the second with a gap of 4.4 seconds was Filip Mareš. Kopecký took the third place another four seconds back. Torn also had problems on this SS and did not finish it.

The final SS Pindula, which was also driven as a Powerstage, was mostly dry. Adam Březík won it by three seconds ahead of Herczig from Hungary, followed by Wagner from Austria as the third. Kopecký's fourth place was still enough to take the overall first place. Erik Cais was the unlucky one again. Last year he lost the victory, this year he lost the podium position. A puncture put him in seventh place at Pindula and fourth overall.

The final standings of Barum Czech Rally Zlín 2022:
1. Kopecký, Hloušek (CZE, Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) 1:59:27,6 hod
2. Mareš, Bucha (CZE, Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) + 37,5 s
3. S. Wagner, Winter (AUT, Škoda Fabia Rally2) + 39,3 s
4. Cais, Těšínský (CZE, Ford Fiesta R5 MkII) + 46,3 s
5. Stříteský, Hovorka (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5) + 56,5 s
6. Herczig, Ferencz (HUN, Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) + 3:43,0 min
7. Campedelli, Canton (ITA, Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) + 4:07,3 min
8. László, Berendi (HUN, Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) + 6:21,3 min
9. von Thurn und Taxis, Ettel (DEU/AUT, Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) + 6:28,1 min
10. A. Březík, Krajča (CZE, Škoda Fabia R5) + 6:55,0 min

12. Astier, Vauclare (FRA, Alpine A110 RGT), 1st in RGT cat. + 11:08,2 min
15. Pellier, Pelamourgues (FRA, Opel Corsa Rally4), 1st in ERC4J cat. + 11:08,2 min
26. Widlak, Dymurski (POL, Ford Fiesta Rally3), 1st in ERC3 cat. + 17:54,4 min

SS Winners:
Kopecký – 5, Březík – 2, Cais, Torn, Mareš, Stříteský, Wagner, Csomós - 1