“Technology didn’t hold us back on the last stage. It’s not a usual problem, it really doesn’t happen often. It’s bad luck, but it’s part of it,” said the driver. a neutral tone in an interview. with Sports News on ČT. But he admitted it bit him hard. “At that moment, it’s sadness and helplessness, but on the other hand, worse things happen – car accidents, more damage to the car”, he thinks aloud . “But I think we put in a good performance,” he said of the weekend’s race.

They entered the final stage on Sunday with a 2.5 second lead over top favorite Kopecky, but they knew they couldn’t play it safe.

“It’s a binding feeling. You know that if you want to fight for first place, you have to avoid major mistakes first. But Honza Kopecký is world champion in this category, so we had to try. Erzeta suited us , the split times revealed that we were well on our way to victory, but unfortunately…”

He didn’t get any more points for the evaluation of the national championship, but Mareš has positive feelings at the end. “I hope it’s visible that we’re getting closer to Honz in terms of performance. It’s great for our small team if we manage to get close to him or even overtake him. I think we’re on the right track. way,” he said. added.

Václav Pech is a big personality in national rallying, but with his focus on the WRC he is chasing the championship in the standings and due to a breakdown he also had to retire from first place in Bohemia.

“His car is a bit different after all. Technologically he is more advanced even though he is older, but he has a lot of extra horsepower. That’s an advantage. But with Vašek behind the wheel, that’s a big motivation. for me.” and I treat him like any other opponent. These fights are the spice of the race, and it would be a shame for the fans too if the sport lost them,” the driver says confidently.

The right choice of tires also made a lot of decisions on the weekend. “In the morning, the conditions were very unpredictable after the rain. That’s why the pilots chose tires with a large dispersion. The fact that Honza Kopecký put the tires in the wet surprised me. But we didn’t know if it would be an advantage or a disadvantage and we had to wait for the stages. We tried to go as fast as possible – and we managed to win the three RZs and take the lead.” racing at a time when everything seemed rosy.

And he also clarified how the tires are selected. “The conditions on the track, the temperature, the way the track will dry out… No one can predict in advance what the track will look like when you drive it. The driver has the final say in the In the “, we communicate with a team of spies who drive the track closely before closing, and then with the engineer. He is responsible for the configuration of the car and the choice of tyres. I take care of that,” says Mareš.

The racer admitted he really liked the successor to his racing Fabia, which was introduced at Bohemka, where it drove outside of competition mainly to collect data.

“We’re watching it closely. It’s a nice car, which we already saw during its presentation, and it also seems fast. It’s one of the options for the future. But now we’re focusing on our technique, with which we will definitely end the season.” he described how he sees the new Škoda racing car.

His team is now working to prepare the car for the next race. “Since the evening we have been working on repairs, analyzing what happened and preparing the car for the European Championship. In a fortnight we would like to start in Rome. At the end of August, the peak of the rally season Barum awaits us in Zlín, which belongs to the EC.”