Clean sweep for Kopecky in WRC 2
Czech driver sets fastest time on every stage
Kopecky untouchable in WRC 2 encounter
Jan Kopecky held a massive lead of more than four minutes in WRC 2 after Saturday’s second leg of ADAC Rallye Deutschland.
The Czech driver, who won all eight speed tests yesterday in a Skoda Fabia R5, added three more wins this morning to stretch his overnight advantage to 2min 10sec.
With such a comfortable lead, he eased his pace this afternoon but the gap grew to 4min 01.5sec when second-placed Craig Breen dropped 3min 30sec changing a puncture on his Peugeot 208 T16 in the penultimate stage. The Irishman dropped to fifth.
“It was a good day, without mistakes,” said Kopecky. “We didn’t push this afternoon because we didn’t want to risk losing this excellent position. I drove carefully but I tried to put on a show for the Czech fans I saw in the stages!”
Eric Camilli took advantage of Breen’s puncture to climb to second in a Ford Fiesta R5, with Quentin Giordano a further 1min 38.3sec back in a DS 3. After losing two minutes yesterday, title challenger Nasser Al-Attiyah fought back to fourth, overhauling Teemu Suninen in the final stage.
Championship leader Esapekka Lappi made a spectacular return after crashing yesterday. The Finn, team-mate to Kopecky, won six stages but is out of the points in 13th.
Jonathan Hirschi retired his 208 T16 with a broken clutch while overnight Production Cup leader Max Rendina also went out, leaving Joan Carchat to take over at the top.
