Jan Kopecký heads a thrilling battle for victory on his home round of the FIA European Rally Championship after a day of multiple lead changes and epic action on the demanding sealed-surface stages of Barum Czech Rally Zlín. “Half of the first [lap] was completely wet and when we took the second [lap] it was half dry. It would get worse for Cais on the very next stage, the repeat of the Kateřinice test. Kopecký reported that he was “out completely with the rear end in the ditch” on the same right-hand corner three kilometres from the stage start where Cais hit trouble on the first pass, describing the stage, which hadn’t been used since 1994, as “very tricky”. Csomós is 14.9sec behind Kopecký after leg one and on course for a maiden ERC podium. Barum Czech Rally Zlín concludes Sunday with three repeated stages over a competitive distance of 92.40 kilometres.

Follow MotorMouth on social media:

• 
• 
• 
•