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Renato
Travaglia in seventh place is the best positioned
Grande Punto Abarth S2000 driver at the end of the first
leg of the Barum Rally Zlín after the factory Abarth
team suffered a disastrous first leg with both
Giandomenico Basso and Anton Alén suffering gearbox
issues that caused them to retire.
The
departure of the two factory-run Grande Puntos today
(although they are expected to return to the fray
tomorrow under the SupeRally rule) leaves rival
Super2000 brand Peugeot's 207 model filling out the top
six positions overall. And with just six of the eleven
rallies on the 2008 IRC calendar completed, Abarth's
chances of winning the manufacturer's title is now
merely mathematical. Abarth has also failed to win any
IRC round this year, although the Italian team was
unlucky not claim victory in Madeira last time out.
Instead it
was Peugeot Belgium drivers' Freddy Loix and Nicolas
Vouilloz who finished up first and second on the opening
day of the Barum Rally Zlin, round six of the IRC,
separated by just four seconds after 152 competitive
kilometres.
“It’s been
very close between us all day,” said Loix, who won the
Ypres Rally in June. “I think we’re both pushing as hard
as we can and that is how it’s going to be tomorrow as
well. The car is working as I like it and I have a very
good feeling with these roads: in many ways they are
quite similar to what we have back home in Belgium.”
The only person to claim a fastest stage time other than
Loix and Vouilloz today was Bryan Bouffier, driving for
Peugeot Poland. The Frenchman ends the opening day
third, despite being hit with a minute’s penalty for
early arrival at SS9 – which he disputes.
As the results stand, he is now only 6.8 seconds ahead
of reigning IRC champion Enrique Garcia Ojeda – who is
returning to the series for the first time this year at
the wheel of a privately-entered Peugeot 207 S2000.
“It’s been a lot of fun coming back,” said Ojeda.
“However it’s definitely taken me a bit of time to find
the right rhythm and I hope to be a bit quicker
tomorrow.”
Luca Rossetti – the current leader of the European
Championship – held third place for much of the day but
dropped nearly three minutes with a puncture on the
final stage, which has put him back to eighth and the
final point-scoring place.
One of the pre-event favourites, Roman Kresta, only
managed to complete six kilometres of the opening stage
this morning before arriving at a tricky corner too fast
and rolling his Peugeot 207 S2000 comprehensively. The
damage is too great for him to continue. Bernd Casier,
in the Volkswagen Polo S2000, picked up a puncture and
slid into a ditch on SS5. It took him more than a minute
to recover, but he ends the day within the top 10 after
setting some encouraging stage times.
The top driver in the IRC 2WD Cup is local man Jan
Slehofer, at the wheel of a Fiat Punto S1600. The
Peugeot 206 S1600 is less than six seconds behind, while
Alessandro Bettega’s Honda Civic Type R R3 is third.
Tomorrow the crews will tackle six final stages, making
up 110 competitive kilometres.
Barum Rally Zlín, positions after SS9:
1Loix/Buysmans Peugeot 207 S2000 1h25m16.2s
2 Vouilloz/Klinger Peugeot 207 S2000 +4.0s
3 Bouffier/Panseri Peugeot 207 S2000 +1m39.8s
4 Ojeda/Costa Peugeot 207 S2000 +1m46.6s
5 Valousek/Hruza Peugeot 207 S2000 +2m07.4s
6 Toth/Tagai Peugeot 207 S2000 +2m20.1s
7 Travaglia/Granai Grande Punto Abarth +2m29.8s
8 Rossetti/Chiarcossi Peugeot 207 S2000 +3m31.7s
9 Solowow/Baran Peugeot 207 S2000 +3m34.1s
10 Casier/Miclotte Volkswagen Polo S2000 +3m54.1s
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