SS14: Kopecký wins, narrowly

Jan Kopecký won the Canon Mecsek Rallye by the smallest margin in the history of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. One final push by Team Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg´s Thierry Neuville proved not quite enough, and in the final reckoning Neuville finished second to the ŠKODA Motorsport driver by just 0.8s.

It was a valiant effort by Neuville in the final 17.70km stage, beating Kopecký’s time of 8m33.7s by 7.3s.

"This was great race," said Kopecký. "Andreas [Mikkelsen] was very fast and he deserved to win. It was difficult rally, very tricky. The car was perfect, thanks to the team and ŠKODA."

Freddy Loix finished third, 1m00.0s behind Kopecký but with 35.6s in hand over Peugeot France’s Bryan Bouffier.

"It was not very good weekend," said Bouffier, "but the car worked well and we have good points."

György Aschenbrenner took IRC Production Cup honours, stepping up his pace in the final stage to defend sixth place overall from the resurgent Toni Gardemeister, who has enjoyed a trouble-free run this afternoon after losing time with a misfire in the morning.