Jan Kopecký is the winner of round 6 of the 2017 FIA European Rally Championship, making him the sixth different winner in six rounds this season. Two more rounds remain, with Kajetan Kajetanowicz leading the standings in what has been one of the most competitive seasons in ERC.
For Kopecký, this was his home round, the Barum Czech Rally Zlín and more so his 17th entry which also marked his sixth win on home soil. The Skoda Fabia R5 driver was in shape more than ever, having to fend off an equally strong Alexey Lukyanuk – both drivers exchanged fastest times on several stages but Kopecky managed to come out on top. Lukyanuk settled for second place in his Ford Fiesta R5 and is currently fourth in the standings.
It was a double podium for Skoda thanks to local hero Roman Kresta who after fighting with brother-in-law Tomáš Kostka through the stages scooped the final spot on the podium. Kostka held third for a significant period but failed to entirely defend a resilient Kresta, both drivers were in the highly successful Skoda Fabia R5.
There was even more joy in the ERC Junior Under 28 category where Marijan Griebel was crowned champion after scoring his third win today. For that, he will get rewarded by FIA with a drive in a WRC car during one of the European rounds next season. Ultimately that’s how the journey to WRC actualizes for these junior drivers.
Considering this was a home round for Skoda as well, they outperformed their rivals by filling nearly the entire top ten. There were only 3 Fords in the top ten, the remaining seven cars were all Skoda Fabia R5s.
The next rally will mark the penultimate round of the season, Rally di Roma Capitale scheduled for September 15.
2017 Barum Czech Rally Zlín Results
1 Jan Kopecký (CZE)/Pavel Dresler (CZE) ŠKODA Fabia R5 1m56.15.2s
2 Alexey Lukyanuk (RUS)/Alexey Arnautov (RUS) Ford Fiesta R5 +55.5s
3 Roman Kresta (CZE)/Petr Starý (CZE) ŠKODA Fabia R5 +1m22.8s
4 Tomáš Kostka (CZE)/Ladislav Kučera (CZE) ŠKODA Fabia R5 +1m25.8s
5 Kajetan Kajetanowicz (POL)/Jarek Baran (POL) Ford Fiesta R5 +2m06.4s
6 Marijan Griebel (DEU)/Stefan Kopczyk (DEU) ŠKODA Fabia R5 +2m08.3s
7 Martin Koči (SVK)/Filip Schovánek (CZE) ŠKODA Fabia R5 +2m31.4s
8 Pavel Valoušek (CZE)/Veronika Havelková (CZE) ŠKODA Fabia R5 +2m51.6s
9 Bruno Magalhães (PRT)/Hugo Magalhães (PRT) ŠKODA Fabia R5 +3m24.5s
10 Bryan Bouffier (FRA)/Xavier Panseri (FRA) Ford Fiesta R5 +3m30.8s
