Kopecky will chase Meeke at home

Three weeks after Rally from Madeira, the protagonists of the IRC championship meet in the Czech Republic to compete in the Barum Rallye this weekend. If Skoda had skipped Portugal just like Peugeot in Russia a few weeks earlier, the entire field will this time be present to battle it out on the roads around Zlin. In fact, no less than 119 cars are expected to start the rally on Friday evening, including 25 Super 2000s.

The usual hosts of the championship will of course be present with Kris Meeke leading the championship. Winner three times this season, the Briton does not consider himself the favorite for this round. He thus leaves his successor in general? 34 points for Meeke against 29 for Kopecky?, the task of donning this costume. “ Jan [Kopecky] showed how fast he could be in Ypres and I'm sure no driver is faster than him. He knows it very well and will want to prove that he is the best Czech driver He says.

The Briton is not the only one to see Kopecky as a potential winner. Juho Hanninen, his teammate and winner of the Russian Rally last July, thinks so too. “ The pressure will be on Jan because he is a Czech driver and he drives a Czech car. [Moreover], he is very fast “, he says. “ I can't wait to race in Zlin », Declares, for his part, the main interested party. “ I am sure it will be a fantastic race. »

Giandomenico Basso (Abarth) will also be there this weekend. Winner of the last Madeira Rally, the Italian is currently third overall, two points behind Kopecky. He will be lined up alongside Luca Rossetti (Abarth) who performed well before his accident in the Portuguese archipelago. Finally, the two drivers of the Peugeot Kronos team, Freddy Loix? winner of the Barum Rallye in 2008 – and Nicolas Vouilloz, will try to achieve their first victory of the season.

In addition to the regular IRC drivers, other personalities will be present in the Czech Republic. Leaving his Citroën C4 WRC, the Russian Evgeny Novikov will be at the wheel of a Skoda Fabia S2000. The very recent Junior World Rally Champion, Martin Prokop, will also be present since he was appointed by BF Goodrich to drive a Peugeot 207 S2000. Finally, a second Proton Satria Neo S2000 will be entrusted to Frenchman Bryan Bouffier who will be alongside Guy Wilks.