Friday, March 29, 2024

A last-minute disaster gave Jan Kopecky the victory in Rally Zlin 2021

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Jan Kopecký / Jan Hlousek (Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) won the Barum Czech Rally Zlin 2021 for the 9th time. After an unexpected competition from the Czech driver Erik Cais / J. Zakova (Czech Republic) (Ford Fiesta R5 MKII), Kopecky finally won again in the biggest Czech rally.
The short sections did not make much difference, but when reaching CE12 Májová (25.43 km) Erik Cais / J. Zakova gained a lead of 13.0 seconds ahead of Kopecky for the stage and led convincingly with 20.4 seconds. Kopecky commented that he made a few mistakes while Andreas Mikkelsen / Jonas Andresson lost 21.0 seconds in the stage, but as Mikkelsen says, the local boys know the ways. However, the goal of Andreas Mikkelsen is the championship, where Kopecky or the other local drivers do not participate.
In the penultimate stage, Kopecky was 20.2 seconds behind Erik Cais. He himself was afraid of the coming rain due to the lack of suitable wet tires. At the same time, Mikkelsen returned the gas and the goal was to finish, not worrying about third place.
In the last final stage, however, in the 25 km long stage, Erik Cais / J. Zakova made a mistake and crashed. So really at the last minute they gave the victory to Kopecký / Jan Hlousek.
Kopecky is already thinking about Rally Zlin 2022, promising to take part.
The winners Kopecký / Jan Hlousek (Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) have a time of 2: 00: 07.2. In second place are Mikkelsen / Jonas Andresson (Skoda Fabia Rally2), who tactically managed to carry out exactly their plan and topped the standings in the championship, a very decisive moment that puts them as the biggest favorites for the title in the European Rally Championship.
Third place is for Filip Mares / Radovan Bucha (Czech) (Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) +1: 40.2. The first six places in the general classification are crews with Skoda Fabia cars.
Only 3.8 seconds were left for the Hungarians Norbert Herczig / Ramon Ferencz for a place on the podium.
The next rally in the championship is the Azores Rally on September 16-18.

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