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ERC Junior Under 27 Post - Barum Czech Rally Zlín quotes

28.08.17

Round 4 of 6: Barum Czech Rally Zlín, 25-27 August

ERC, Barum Czech Rally Zlin

BUǦRA BANAZ (TUR) Position: Sixth
Co-driver: Burak Erdener (TUR) Car: Ford Fiesta R2

“It was a very difficult rally, like Poland but with much more dirt on the roads. But finally we are here and we finished in a very good position, which is also very good for the championship. At the start it was very hard to manage the brakes but we took care of the car to finish in the best position we can. My aim was to finish the rally still the championship leader in ERC3 and we took some valuable points. I was happy with my pace and I also improved my driving. Thanks to the team for giving me a very good car.”

DOMINIK BROŽ (CZE) Position: Fifth
Co-driver: Petr Těšínský (CZE) Car: Peugeot 208 R2

“The whole week was good for me but I’m sad we had a problem with the engine and the electronics. We also had some problems with the brakes on the first day and went off in a field. But we continue again and we got good confidence in the car.”

JARI HUTTUNEN (FIN) Position: DNF (accident)
Co-driver: Antti Linnaketo (FIN) Car: Opel ADAM R2

“There was one right corner with a little bit of gravel, I was a little too fast and it goes sliding. I don’t have space to do anything and we rolled. That was a little sad because I was only driving at 70 per cent but that’s what happened. It’s not easy driving slowly but maybe I would have crashed much bad if I was driving flat out. We have two more rallies for the championship so we keep pushing but this is my second retirement so it’s not so easy.”

CHRIS INGRAM (GBR) Position: Seventh
Co-driver: Elliott Edmondson (GBR) Car: Opel ADAM R2

“It was a very challenging rally for the whole team. It started off with a bit of a nightmare when the wishbone snapped at the start of the city stage. I was driving terribly after that, finding it hard to commit to my notes. We then lost two and a half minutes changing a puncture. But we ended on a bit of a high note going fastest on all of the proper stages on Sunday and we won the day comfortably so we’re looking forward to Rome to push for the win 100 per cent. Not leading the championship is not a problem because we’re the only ones with two wins, so when dropped scores come into play it will change things. The championship lead is not important at the moment, it’s at the end when it matters.”

RADOMIR KUPEC (CZE) Position: DNF (engine)
Co-driver: Vladimír Osička (CZE) Car: Opel ADAM R2

Retired on the opening stage of the rally with engine failure.

FILIP MAREŠ (CZE) Position: Second
Co-driver: Jan Hloušek (CZE) Car: Peugeot 208 R2

“I am quite satisfied with the end result but we lost a lot of time with the puncture although it was still a very good result for us in our home rally. We were in the battle for the win when we got our puncture so I was quite satisfied with our pace. The problem with the clutch made it difficult and stressful but we were concentrated and focused on what we had to do.”

TAMARA MOLINARO (ITA) Position: Eighth
Co-driver: Giovanni Bernacchini (ITA) Car: Opel ADAM R2

“It was a very difficult rally and with no powersteering for the last stage we lost the fight to Emma Falcón [in the ERC Ladies’ Trophy]. Without the experience of this rally, if you don’t want to risk you had to keep a sensible pace and we had to think about the championship and be clever. I wanted to make the team proud and say thanks for all the things they are doing for me. Giovanni was working really well and helping me a lot. The corners over the crests were narrow, the speed was really high but the Tarmac was completely broken and bumpy. The car was working really well but jumping a lot like a bunny. It was really difficult to do this rally for the first time.”

CATIE MUNNINGS (GBR) Position: Ninth
Co-driver: Anne Katharina Stein (DEU) Car: Peugeot 208 R2

“It wasn’t the best start to the rally getting a maximum time when I stopped to change a broken wheel on the first stage. Saturday wasn’t the best day losing my brakes completely at one point in the morning. You need experience to be fast on this rally and because it’s so hard to read the roads sometimes, I was taking it on the cautious side and not pushing but having fun at the same time. What happened in Poland was unfortunate but I have so much confidence now after finishing this rally. But I’ve never done something so crazy in my entire life.”

JULIAN WAGNER (AUT) Position: Fourth
Co-driver: Jürgen Heigl (AUT) Car: Peugeot 208 R2

“It’s quite a shame to lose the third place but we do a good rally. it was my first time here in this rally and in ERC Junior. It was also my first time in my Peugeot and also my first time on Pirelli but I was satisfied that we could finish the rally. We got a lot of experience and I hope to be back here on the Barum Rally and ERC Junior because it was a great event. I was not the fastest but changing from the Opel ADAM to the Peugeot 208 was difficult after only 20 kilometres of testing. But I was satisfied even though it was quite tough. My brother beat me to the final podium place but what we said stays in the family.”

SIMON WAGNER (AUT) Position: Third
Co-driver: Gerald Winter (AUT) Car: Peugeot 208 R2

“I did some mistakes on the first morning because I had no confidence with the set-up and that’s why we were not closer to the front. But it got better when we changed the set-up. Saturday afternoon was okay and it showed in the stage times but then we got a puncture although that’s rally. Our rear windscreen got broken because one clip broke and one was not enough [to stop the tailgate from flying up]. We really fought on the second day.”

ALEKS ZAWADA (POL) Position: First
Co-driver: Grzegorz Dachowski (POL) Car: Opel ADAM R2

“It was a really tough rally and we are lucky to be here, really, but I’m really happy to be in the lead of the championship. I want to say a big thank you to all my sponsors and also my family. We have to continue like this in Rome now. We were having intermittent gearbox problems and also having intermittent engine issues and then we had a bit of an off in a fast section on the first morning so it was all happening. My aim was to come here and win this rally but it was hard to keep your head when Jari [Huttunen] went off and Chris [Ingram] had his issues. We fixed the engine problem but I was praying to the car gods that the gearbox problem, a selection issue, didn’t get worse because we didn’t have a spare. I’ve never had such a big moment as I did on Saturday afternoon and never felt as lucky to be here. It was fifth gear at 170kph and we did 720 degrees or something spinning around. Luckily we didn’t hit anything and got away with it but it was a lesson learned. Somebody wanted me to win this so it was all about maintaining our cool and not making any mistakes.”