ERC: Croatia Rally / Rally review
Tyres are crucial
Meteo crews play a crucial role in rallying
these days. Many of the front running crews
expected dry conditions on the opening stages
opting for hard tyres in the process. Andreas
Aigner must have been ‘up all night’ because
he opted for the soft compound and got lucky!
As the rain set in Aigner used his grip advantage to storm into an unexpected lead. Kopecky hit back on the drier third stage but could
not prevent Aigner from leading at the midday
service. Under no illusions, Aigner remained
realistic: “It feels nice but I don’t expect it to
continue because Jan will be very fast this afternoon.”
get to witness a fight after all. Germain Bonnefis crashed his Renault Megane RS out of the
event causing a bit of a shock. He was transported to a local hospital with potentially serious injuries. After receiving treatment he was
diagnosed with a fractured vertebra but should
fully recover. Aigner must have breathed a
sigh of relieve upon hearing this news, mainly
because of the well being of his colleague, but
also because Bonnefis was his main remaining contender in the production cup category.
Campione!
As the day continued and conditions got drier there was no stopping Kopecky. Eager to
clinch his first ERC title as soon as possible
Look out!
the Czech put in an admirable display and
We all knew he was probably right, but his per- swiftly moved ahead of Aigner to open up a 52
formance did spark a bit of hope that we would second lead by the end of the day. Points are
awarded for day results too in the ERC and
the lead granted Kopecky seven of them. This
was enough to ‘make a dream come true’ as
Kopecky claimed his maiden ERC title.
Best of rest
Obviously newly crowned champion Jan Kopecky was fastest of all in Croatia but behind
him an exciting fight developed between Andreas Aigner and Herman Gassner Jr. for second. The two R4 drivers fought until the very
end when Aigner took that second spot with
a margin of just over 15 seconds. He battled
hard throughout the awarded and was duly
awarded. His second place overall and first
in the production cup category moved him
ahead of Jaroslav Orsak in the production cup
standings. Furthermore he received the Co lin
McRae Flat Out Trophy for his performance.
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Orsak’s absence gave Bonnefis a great chance to close in on him fr Production Cup Gassner Jr. stayed close to early leader Aigner but eventually was able to beat him and
honours. His crash ended all hopes though. win the group N class.