Impromat Rallysprint Kopná 2009

Date: 4 July 2009 · Location: near Slušovice (Zlín region) · Car: Škoda Fabia A5 · Start number: 88 · Crew: Petr Mráz, co-driver Martin Plšek · Result: retired after stage 7

The Impromat Rallysprint Kopná is usually a high-quality event with a large entry — and its seventeenth edition was no exception. 129 crews took to the stages near Slušovice, facing nine special stages. For the third round of the season we prepared the car with a new engine and a new electronic control unit.

Rallying is very popular in the Zlín region and many spectators came to watch. While they enjoyed the sunshine, it was hard to breathe inside the cars and the rally was exhausting. In class A5 we started with number 88 among fourteen crews. From a well-paced run, however, we had to retire after the seventh special stage because of an electrical fault. More than a third of the starters did not finish this demanding rally.

“It was a really tough rally. They say at Kopná that it is impossible to beat the local drivers, and that was confirmed from the very first competitive kilometres. The car is still very raw, so small problems keep appearing. Our goal was to finish, and unfortunately we did not manage it.” — Petr Mráz