Czech charger Jan Kopecký will take on pacy Pole Kajetan Kajetanowicz in the second round of voting by fans of the FIA European Rally Championship.
The online poll, part of the ERC’s 70th anniversary celebrations, is a true battle of the legends with 16 selected for the shootout to determine who is the best of them all.
FIAERC.com has taken a data-based approach to pick out 12 drivers who have won the coveted European Rally Championship at least two times. Four wildcards, based on their impact during a certain ERC era, have also been selected. They include Rauno Aaltonen – the 1965 ERC champion who battled Luca Rossetti in Tuesday’s opening round – and Kopecký, who claimed the ERC’s top prize in 2013.
Employing bracketology, the vote between Kajetanowicz and Kopecký opens at 11:00 CET today (Wednesday) and closes 24 hours later. It follows on from Tuesday’s first head-to-head between Aaltonen and three-time ERC champion Luca Rossetti, which went in the Italian’s favour by 59 per cent of the voting. The ERC Greatest Driver, according to your votes, will be revealed on 1 December.
Three-in-a-row from the Polish prince who became King Kajto
While three drivers have won the ERC title three times, only Kajetan Kajetanowicz (above) has achieved the feat consecutively, the Pole locking out the silverware between 2015-2017. ‘Kajto’ emerged as a contender when he scored the first win for an R5 car in the ERC after battling the elements to triumph on Rally Poland in 2013. He celebrated his maiden ERC crown in the Acropolis Rally service park as the event winner after heavy rain prevented the 2015 edition from running its course. He took a second Acropolis victory in 2017, one of seven notched up from 39 ERC starts. He’s since gone on to star in WRC2.
Dramatic finish the prelude to an epic season for hero Honza Kopecký Jan ‘Honza’ Kopecký (below) never looked back after his dramatic victory on the 2013 season-opening Jänner Rallye in Austria by a scant 0.5sec margin. With Pavel Dresler co-driving the green and white factory Škoda Fabia S2000, Kopecký was better than the rest on Rally Islas Canarias – albeit after Robert Kubica crashed out of the lead – SATA Rallye Açores, Sibiu Rally Romania, Barum Czech Rally Zlín and Croatia Rally, where he became champion with two events to spare. Of the two events he didn’t win he finished on the podium, such was his dominance. After making the Asia-Pacific championship his own in 2014, Kopecký has returned to the ERC to win his home event, Barum Czech Rally Zlín, every year the event has run since 2015. He became WRC2 champion in 2018.
Tomorrow’s ERC Greatest Driver head-to-head: Sobiesław Zasada versus Antonio Zanini.
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