ERC: Kopecky dominates at home on Barum Czech Rally Zlin
Jan Kopecky has claimed a lockout of stage wins to lead Barum Czech Rally Zlin by more than half a minute after leg one of the FIA European Rally Championship counter.
Driving a Skoda Motorsport Fabia Super 2000 on Michelin's Pilot Sport R asphalt tyre, the ERC title leader set the pace on Friday night's superspecial through the streets of host city Zlin before going undefeated on all eight stages that made up Saturday's action.
"I've tried to go very fast with no big risks but it's not been easy and I've had to be very concentrated," said Kopecky, who has also earned seven ERC bonus points for winning the leg. "My Skoda has been perfect and everything has been good with the car. We have been enjoying it and this is important but there could be rain overnight and this will make it difficult tomorrow [Sunday]."
Vaclav Pech, competing in the ERC for the first time since the opening round in Austria back in January, is second overall - 37.5s down on Kopecky - in his MINI John Cooper Works S2000 with Roman Kresta, a three-time winner in Zlin, completing the overnight all-Czech podium in his self-run Fabia.
Jaromir Tarabus, who took fourth from German Sepp Wiegand on the final stage, could have been higher up the order but for a one-minute time penalty handed out for an early check-in.
Behind Wiegand, Miroslav Jakes leads the FIA ERC Production Car Cup in sixth place with Antonin Tlusak overcoming a broken rear differential to hold seventh for GPD Mit Metal Racing Team.
Germain Bonnefis is a strong eighth for Team Renault Sport Technologies with Jaroslav Orsak ninth and team-mate Robert Koristka tenth. Orsak led the ERC Production Car Cup section overnight but slipped back when a rear differential failure left his Mitsubishi Lancer in front-wheel-drive mode during the morning loop of three stages. Renault's challenge was halved when Robert Consani crashed his Megane RS on stage four going through a compression.
While Kopecky has enjoyed a trouble-free day, factory Skoda team-mate Esapekka Lappi was prevented from starting Saturday's final two stages after damage inflicted to his Fabia S2000's roll cage when he went off the road and hit a tree on stage six proved too great to allow him to continue on his Zlin debut.
Toshi Arai was another driver to fail to make it through leg one. Having been hampered by an engine misfire from the start, the Yokohama-shod Subaru driver stopped for good with broken steering on his Stohl Racing entry.
Marco Tempestini meanwhile is the lead Napoca Rally Academy driver despite a few mechanical gremlins masking the Romanian driver's true pace.
Peugeot 208 R2 driver Jan Cerny heads the FIA ERC 2WD Championship section from rapid Austrian Hermann Neubauer in his Suzuki Swift S1600 following a dramatic day. Overnight leader Egon Smekal lost top spot with an off on stage three, Hannes Danzinger crashed in the rain on stage six, title leader Zolt?n Bessenyey feared he would roll going off on stage seven in his Eurosol-Honda Civic Type R entry, while a double puncture has slowed Kornel Lukacs on his first run in the ERC in a Renault Clio R3.
Molly Taylor tops the ERC Ladies' Trophy for the United Business Rally Team with points leader Ekaterina Stratieva in third.
Tomas Kostka started Saturday's opening stage in third overall but gradually dropped back as he struggled to adapt the set-up of his Ford Fiesta R5 for the bumpy roads that form the backdrop to Rally Zlin. Broken transmission put him out on stage six. Pavel Valousek, in the second Fiesta R5, was delayed by a puncture and loss of powersteering.
Leg two features six stages over a competitive distance of 103.86 kilometres and begins with the 23.66-kilometre Maj?k stage at 08:53hrs local time on Sunday.
