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SS15: Loix wins stage, Kopecký wins rally

Kopecky held on to win by 1.2s

By Franck Drui

28 August 2011 - 14:20

Freddy Loix has won the final stage of Barum Czech Rally Zlín but it wasn’t enough to beat home hero Jan Kopecký to first place on the Intercontinental Rally Challenge qualifier.

Kopecký was 0.8s slower than Loix through the stage but held on to win by 1.2s, the closest finish in the history of the IRC.

“We were quicker than in the first pass and we tried our best without taking big risks because we wanted to come to the finish,” said the ŠKODA Motorsport driver.

Loix said: “It was fantastic and we’ve been pushing flat out. We enjoyed it but this was a very tricky rally.”

Thierry Neuville held on for fourth place despite Andreas Mikkelsen posting a faster stage time than him through the 24.37-kilometre Halenkovice stage. Toni Gardemeister maintained his grip on sixth place although Craig Breen was able to trim his advantage to 4.2s.

Pos.	Driver	Car	Time
1	Kopecký Jan / Starý Petr	Škoda Fabia S2000	2h15m51.7s
2	Loix Freddy / Miclotte F.	Škoda Fabia S2000	+1.2s
3	Hänninen Juho / Markkula Mikko	Škoda Fabia S2000	+37.4s
4	Neuville T. / Gilsoul Nicolas	Peugeot 207 S2000	+1m59.6s
5	Mikkelsen Andreas / Floene Ola	Škoda Fabia S2000	+2m05.7s
6	Gardemeister T. / Suominen Tapio	Škoda Fabia S2000	+3m43.2s
7	Breen Craig / Roberts Gareth	Ford Fiesta S2000	+3m47.4s
8	Kresta Roman / Gross Petr	Škoda Fabia S2000	+4m21.5s
9	Andersson P. / Axelsson Emil	Proton Satria Neo S2000	+4m41.1s
10	Kruuda Karl / Järveoja M.	Škoda Fabia S2000	+4m54.4s
11	Sołowow Michal / Baran Maciej	Ford Fiesta S2000	+5m00.7s
12	Sandell Patrik / Parmander S.	Škoda Fabia S2000	+5m29.1s
13	Barrable Robert / Connolly Damien	Škoda Fabia S2000	+5m51.8s
14	Basso G. / Dotta Mitia	Proton Satria Neo S2000	+5m52.8s
15	Odložilík R. / Tureček Martin	Škoda Fabia S2000	+7m01.6s