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But while the married 28-year-old is something of an unknown in IRC circles – he has competed in Zlín on four occasions – his motorsport curriculum vitae is impressive and varied following stints in Formula Ford, Formula Three, World Series by Renault and an appearance in the Le Mans 24 Hours.
The current leader of the Czech rallysprint championship in a Citroën C4 WRC, Kostka is also riding high in the Czech touring car series where he was a winner at the recent meeting at the Most circuit in a DTM-specification Audi A4.
His success on SSS Zlín on Friday night in a Rufa Sport-entered JM Racing-prepared ŠKODA Fabia Super 2000 wasn’t a complete surprise, however. Kostka lives in the south-east Czech city and has a reputation among Czech media as being a fast driver. He will start section two of day one of Rally Zlín 14th on the road, albeit with a lead of three seconds.
Saturday’s first stage, Slušovice, will be shown live on Eurosport and free-to-air Czech TV from 10:00hrs local time.
Mikkelsen Andreas
168 pt.
Kopecký Jan
101 pt.
Hänninen Juho
93 pt.
Wiegand Sepp
73 pt.
Consani Robert
97 pt.
Arai Toshi
86 pt.
Aigner Andreas
83 pt.
Tempestini Marco
63 pt.
Hunt Harry
126 pt.
Consani Robert
87 pt.
Kangur Martin
51 pt.
Campedelli Simone
50 pt.
Breen Craig