Kowalczyk KO leaves Kohn on the brink of ERC3 success

Driving a Ford Fiesta Rally3 on Pirelli tyres, Kohn had trailed Renault Clio Rally3-powered Hubert Kowalczyk by 20.0sec after six stages but snatched first place from his Polish rival on SS7, before pulling clear when Kowalczyk crashed out 2.2 kilometres from the start of SS8.

At the completion of Saturday’s opening leg, Prague resident Kohn, who has never competed in Zlín before, leads by 1min 36.1sec with Turkish teenager Kerem Kazaz in second and Croatian Martin Ravenščak third as three event rookies fill the provisional podium places.

“It was really tricky, we had so much stuff going on,” said Kohn. “I lost my confidence, it was not perfect but we are here. I’m doing this rally for the first time and it’s really hard. I’ve experienced some hard rallies in my career but this is the next level because the speed is high, it’s really something else but I have to keep my focus on winning the Fiesta title.”

Kazaz said: “We are learning, it’s a new rally for me so I was a bit cautious. For my first time here I was not planning to be in the top three, I just want to finish the rally and get the experience. That’s still what I’m trying to do. My car is a bit slower than the others because it is not the Evo version.”

As well as holding third place in ERC3, Ravenščak completes the ERC3 Fiesta Rally3 Trophy overnight podium with Slovakian newcomer Robert Kolčák fourth on his first outing in a Rally3 car.

Igor Widłak, who won ERC3 in Zlín last season, is fifth and on a mission to rebuild his confidence following his crash on Rally di Roma Capitale last month. Aleksandar Tomov dropped out with a mechanical failure.

Barum Czech Rally Zlín reaches its conclusion tomorrow (Sunday) with six stages over a competitive distance of 81.12 kilometres. The legendary Semetín stage is up first from 08:23 local time with the Halenkovice Power Stage due to get under way at 16:05.