Jan Kopecky secured victory in round one of the new-look European Rally Championship, which took place in Austria, by just half a second, following an intense battle with Bryan Bouffier in the dying moments of the rally.
Kopecky was heading the rally with a 20-second lead in wet and icy conditions, but later dropped to third overall after picking up a puncture on SS15, thus allowing Bryan Bouffier to snatch the lead of the rally, despite a spin on that same stage.
Bouffier then saw his 10-second advantage over Kopecky disappear when the latter put on an amazing performance during the last three stages of the rally, to eventually claim a last-gasp victory.
Bouffier settled for second with 10-time Austrian rally champion Raimund Baumschlager taking third.
Below are the top 10 finishers:
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Jan Kopecky Skoda 2h35m45.3s 2. Bryan Bouffier SC Ateneo Peugeot + 0.5s 3. Raimund Baumschlager BRR Skoda + 1m18.1s 4. Vaclav Pech Invelt Mini + 2m47.0s 5. Beppo Harrach DiTech Mitsubishi + 3m31.8s 6. Kajetan Kajetanowicz Lotos Subaru + 3m32.9s 7. Francois Delecour Kronos Peugeot + 5m21.2s 8. Jaroslav Orsak GPD Mit Metal Mitsubishi + 6m33.7s 9. Jaromir Tarabus Ak Brno Skoda + 7m56.0s 10. Pavel Valousek Delimax Peugeot + 8m11.8s