INTERCONTINENTAL RALLY CHALLENGE
Saturday, August 22, 2009
A huge crowd turned out to cheer on the BFGoodrich Drivers Team representative who put in a surefooted run throughout the opening day of his home event.
After posting the 11th quickest time on Friday evening's super-special in the streets of Zlin, the recently-crowned Junior World Champion – who was chosen at the beginning of August to drive the BFGoodrich Drivers Team Peugeot – made excellent progress all day today.
Running on BFGoodrich medium compound A11 tyres, Prokop started the day with a 17th fastest time on the celebrated Pindula stage before upping his pace to secure a top-10 time on all the remaining tests as he moved steadily up the leaderboard.
The BFGoodrich Drivers Team driver even put in the third best performance on SS8 (22.47km), less than two seconds off the fastest time which was the work of none other than the 2008 Barum winner Freddy Loix.
Prokop rounded off the afternoon with another outstanding display on the day's final test: running on dry weather tyres in the rain, the Czech was seventh overall which ensured that he completed the day in sixth spot.
Michel Ducher (BFGoodrich technician): "Martin has been very quick and consistent. He's an experienced, dependable driver and has been making progress all the time. He used the Medium compound BFGoodrich A11 tyre throughout the day, and that enabled him to benefit from excellent grip irrespective of the conditions.