Dominik Stříteský evaluates the 1st stage of the Barum Rally. | Video: Břenek Martin
The Austrian Simon Wagner finished second, Erik Cais is happy with the bronze. Jan Kopecký, the 11-time king of the Barum Rally and the winner of its last eight years, finished ninth.
This year’s Barum Czech Rally Zlín brought new rules – Kopecký did not follow up on the previous titles due to defects. Dominik Stříteský claimed his first local title.
play_fill
The turning point was the fifth special stage. Jan Kopecký had a puncture on Bunča and had to get out of the car. He lost more than two minutes to the leading crews, thus losing the opportunity to position himself on the box. And follow up on a total of 11 titles from the Czech race.
“It happened on gravel, which is quite loose and has big rocks coming out of it. One was on the track and I ran into it. That’s rallying,” Kopecký said sadly.
The home riders took advantage of the favorite’s hesitation. The most Dominik Stříteský, who kept in close contact with the best from the start of the race. Even before the first pass through Bunč, he climbed to the first place, where he stayed until the end!
play_fill
The closest to the native of Kelčka was Erik Cais after the seventh test in Kateřinice with a loss of four seconds. However, he drove in storms in Rajnochovice, moreover, he changed gears badly.
“That’s the rally, we paid extra for the tire lottery,” lamented the competitor from Fryšták.
In the end, Wagner took second place, and Cais took third. Adam Březík finished fourth, Filip Mareš fifth.
play_fill
The first man of the European Championship, Hayden Paddon, due to problems on the track on Saturday, finished with a loss of almost five minutes, Mathieu Franceschi even resigned on Sunday.
The Kelč competitor Dominik Stříteský came closer to the overall triumph in the Czech championship with his weekend victory, when he won the third of the four MČR races. The business in Pačejov will end the season in a month.
