First day of Vltava goes to Jensen, Pech rules the Šumava after Friday

While last year Norwegian Jensen took his first Vltava triumph after twisted events, this year, his Lancia Rally 037 ruled from the very beginning. Václav Pech with Mini John Cooper Works S2000 narrowly leads ahead of Jaromír Tarabus’ Škoda in Rally Šumava Klatovy. Info about both competitions is available via rallyesumava.cz and vltavarallye.cz.

Norwegian pair Valter Christian Jensen – Erik Pedersen has now a minute head start after second half of Friday programme and is on the best way to defending its title from last year victory in Historic Rally Vltava. The weather conditions came in handy for the Northerners as they could use their experience from the world championship. Italian Massimo Pedretti nicknamed Pedro managed to with his best times come close to his rival in fifth and sixth SS but troubles with air system caused vaporous windscreen in the Koríb. The competition favorite lost almost a minute and fell to third place. So that the current leader of category 3 German Anton Werner with Audi Quattro is starting second on Saturday, Werner can expect a serious pressure from Pedro. The current leader of category 3 Swede Myrsell and Austrian Wagner both with Porsche 911 are doing well, on the other hand Ernst Harrach is below them, as he has no luck this year again in Klatovy. On Friday, he had difficulties with turbo and with additional lights during the nights too.

The participants of Czech national championship are doing a great job. Jiří Kalista has a dream debut with Subaru Legacy. This driver increased his lead over Navrátil to more than fifty seconds. Káňa is remaining third after beating Petrásek in Koráb. Those four have the same first name Jiří and they are all in top ten of overall standings 22nd Historic Vltava Rallye. Jan Krejča leading D1 class is fifth. The category II leader Petr Hejhal is currently eight in the national championship, the leader of category I Bohumír Svoboda Jr. does well too, as he is in the middle of the results list.

In the 48th Rally Šumava Klatovy, a stern fight is under way between pairs Václav Pech – Petr Uhel (Mini John Cooper Works S2000) and Jaromír Tarabus – Daniel Trunkát (Škoda Fabia S2000). The driver from Moravia did well in Svrčovec and this time also in Koráb, so there is only a half of second between him and Václav Pech, so we can expect a great battle between these two for a win. There are slightly bigger margins between third Odložilík and fourth Jelínek, the leader of class 3 Štajf with Subaru Impreza is fifth overall. In 2WDs, the duel between the current leader of category 5 Peták and current leader of category 7, both are also in top ten overall standings. After Friday, Černý leads class 6, Rada rules class 8 and Bisaha is the best so far in class 9. The common thing for both competitions in Klatovy is that there weren’t any serious accidents or injuries.