Adam Březík secured his first European Rally Championship victory on Barum Czech Rally Zlín, fending off a late charge from points leader Teemu Suninen on the final afternoon.
The rally had started as an all-Czech battle for the lead, with Březík fending off an early challenge from 11-time Barum winner Jan Kopecký.
But Kopecký’s bid for win number 12 was curtailed on Saturday’s SS6, when a stone impacted a rim and took out a brake pipe along with it; he retired and opted not to restart on Sunday.
Reigning ERC champion Miko Marczyk inherited second place after Kopecký’s demise but was swallowed up by his title rivals behind; Suninen moved into second place on Pindula, Sunday’s first stage, and would later be beaten to the final podium position by Lancia’s Andrea Mabellini in a powerstage showdown for third.
Březík had only won twice at national level prior to his Barum win, making the outcome something of an upset
Březík had been quickest all morning on Sunday to build his advantage to 21.2s; Suninen then won the second pass of Pindula and was 9.2s faster than Březík on the final stage, though ultimately ran out of time to catch his Škoda rival and finished 8.3s adrift.
Second place on Suninen’s Barum debut – and an extra two points compared to Mabellini, who won the powerstage – gives him a 25-point lead with two rallies remaining.
“It’s good championship points and good proof I can be strong in the Barum, which is an incredibly difficult rally,” said Suninen.
“There are no words to describe how difficult that was. But big thanks to the team; they have made an incredible setup for the car. I had no clue what setups to use here but they told me, this is the car, you go and I managed to be fastest on two stages, so that was really good.”
Simone Tempestini had been fastest in qualifying and finished sixth in ERC – and he certainly gave it everything he had
Jakub Matulka rounded out the top five though benefitted from trouble for Filip Mareš; the 2019 ERC Junior champion picked up a puncture on Semetín and then spun at speed on Kateřinice, damaging the rear end of his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.
Ján Kundlák was top six on the leaderboard but not registered for ERC, so Team MRF’s Simone Tempestini picked up the points for sixth place; he’d been line-astern in the standings with fellow MRF-runner Erik Cais, though the Czech driver’s Hyundai came to a halt on Sunday’s second stage.
Mareš collected seventh place in ERC after his Sunday dramas, ahead of Simone Wagner’s Hyundai, Václav Pech Jr and Roberto Blach Jr, who completed the top 10.
Will Creighton and Liam Regan were involved in a high-speed shunt on stage four; Creighton was taken to hospital for precautionary checks and later released, while his co-driver Regan remained overnight.
