Van Dalen praises 207 strength after crash

Marc van Dalen has said the all-Czech crew of Pavel Valoušek and Zdenek Hruza could have been more seriously injured had it not been for the strength of their Peugeot 207 Super 2000 when they crashed out of Barum Czech Rally Zlín this morning.

Valoušek, the reigning Czech champion, was in ninth overall when he crashed at high speed approximately one and a half kilometres from the start of stage three of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge qualifier.

He suffered a broken left arm, cuts to his right arm and shock. Hruza reported pains in his back but is otherwise uninjured after their Peugeot struck a tree head on at approximately 100kph.

“The crash was very, very hard,” said van Dalen, whose Kronos Racing operation is running Valoušek’s Peugeot Delimax Total Czech National Team 207 this season. “He touched the tree in the front at very, very high speed. But the car is very strong and the technical regulations mean the car has to be very strong.”

Although Valoušek’s car is beyond repair, van Dalen it had more than done its job in protecting the crew from serious injury.

“The most important thing is the life of the people,” said van Dalen. “Thanks to Peugeot to make a car like this and thanks to the FIA for the rules to have cars as strong as this. A big crash like this proves it is the right way.”

Asked what had caused Valoušek’s accident, van Dalen wasn’t entirely sure. He said: “Zdenek called me to tell me it was full attack and the car was sliding a little bit at the rear. He tried to take the car back to the road but he hit a tree and the car stopped immediately.”