Peugeot Belgium driver Freddy Loix has claimed his second IRC win of the season on the Barum Rally Zlin, round six of this year’s series. The result has boosted him up to third overall in the standings, and also increased Peugeot’s lead of the manufacturers championship.

“I needed to score some points to improve my place in the championship, so this is exactly the best way to do it,” said Loix. My objective is still to be in the top three at the end of the year, so another win is the best way to go about it.”

By finishing second, his team mate Nicolas Vouilloz has increased his lead of the drivers’ standings to 12 points over Peugeot Italy driver Luca Rossetti. Vouilloz, who claimed the opening spectator superspecial stage on Friday night in Zlin, challenged Loix for victory right up until this morning’s loop of stages. A loose screw on SS11 meant that a front driveshaft broke loose, reducing his Peugeot 207 S2000 to just three-wheel drive. Vouilloz’s dramas
were not over in the afternoon: a broken starter motor on the penultimate stage meant that he lost another 30 seconds. As a result, he headed into the final stage with a margin of just 6.5 seconds over the third-placed man.

Completing the podium was another 207 S2000, in the hands of Peugeot Poland driver Bryan Bouffier. The Frenchman was handed a minute’s penalty on Saturday evening for clocking into SS9 too early, but he was the only person to properly challenge the two Peugeot Belgium drivers on pace.

Luca Rossetti had occupied the final podium place until the final stage on Saturday, when he picked up a puncture that cost nearly three minutes. The top local driver was Pavel Valousek, whose fourth place finish in a Peugeot 207 S2000 is the best overall result obtained on an IRC event by a member of the BFGoodrich Drivers’ Team.

After a thrilling battle that went all the way to the final stage, the young Czech just beat the Abarth Grande Punto S2000 of former European Champion Renato Travaglia

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The Barum Rally Zlin, run on a tricky selection of asphalt roads totalling 263 competitive kilometres, proved to be the most punishing round of the IRC held so far – with several top contenders falling by the wayside. The first and most dramatic retirement was that of local hero Roman Kresta, who rolled his Peugeot 207 on the opening stage of Saturday.

The factory Abarth team had a difficult event, with both the Grande Puntos of Giandomenico Basso and Anton Alen forced to stop on the opening morning with gearbox problems. They started again under the super rally system on Sunday, but Alen had to retire once more with suspected gearbox problems while Basso completed the event well down the order.

Volkswagen’s Bernd Casier was set for a top-10 result before crashing into a bridge parapet on SS11 this morning, and Mitsubishi’s local hero Vaclav Pech was also running strongly before dropping out of contention with a broken sumpguard. The top Mitsubishi was local man Arazim Vaclav in 14th.

IRC results after SS15, Barum Rally Zlin

1 Loix/Buysmans Peugeot 207 S2000 2h24m24.3s
2 Vouilloz/Klinger Peugeot 207 S2000 +59.9s
3 Bouffier/Panseri Peugeot 207 S2000 +1m09.6s
4 Valousek/Hruza Peugeot 207 S2000 +2m23.4s
5 Travaglia/Granai Abarth Grande Punto +2m26.2s
6 Toth/Tagai Peugeot 207 S2000 +3m13.9s
7 Rossetti/Chiarcossi Peugeot 207 S2000 +4m09.1s
8 Petak/Benesova Peugeot 207 S2000 +6m08.3s
9 Solowow/Baran Peugeot 207 S2000 +6m22.5s
10 Odlozilik/Odlozilik Peugeot 207 S2000 +6m45.7s

Two-wheel drive winner: Jan Slehofer (Fiat Punto S1600)

Standings

1 Vouilloz 44                                     1 Peugeot 103
2 Rossetti 32                                     2 Abarth 50
3 Loix 29                                         3 Mitsubishi 9
4 Basso 22                                        4 Volkswagen 5
5 Kopecky 15
6 Hanninen & Alen & Travaglia 14
9 Bouffier & Camacho 6
10 Casier & Valousek 5