Jan Kopecký won the Canon Mecsek Rallye by the smallest margin in the history of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. One final push by Team Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg´s Thierry Neuville proved not quite enough, and in the final reckoning Neuville finished second to the ŠKODA Motorsport driver by just 0.8s.
It was a valiant effort by Neuville in the final 17.70km stage, beating Kopecký’s time of 8m33.7s by 7.3s.
"This was great race," said Kopecký. "Andreas [Mikkelsen] was very fast and he deserved to win. It was difficult rally, very tricky. The car was perfect, thanks to the team and ŠKODA."
Freddy Loix finished third, 1m00.0s behind Kopecký but with 35.6s in hand over Peugeot France’s Bryan Bouffier.
"It was not very good weekend," said Bouffier, "but the car worked well and we have good points."
György Aschenbrenner took IRC Production Cup honours, stepping up his pace in the final stage to defend sixth place overall from the resurgent Toni Gardemeister, who has enjoyed a trouble-free run this afternoon after losing time with a misfire in the morning.
| Pos. | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kopecký Jan / Starý Petr | Škoda Fabia S2000 | 2h00m06.7s |
| 2 | Neuville T. / Gilsoul Nicolas | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +0.8s |
| 3 | Loix Freddy / Miclotte F. | Škoda Fabia S2000 | +1m00.0s |
| 4 | Bouffier Bryan / Panseri Xavier | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +1m35.6s |
| 5 | Gassner H. / Gottschalk Timo | Škoda Fabia S2000 | +2m32.5s |
| 6 | György Aschenbrenner / Pikó Zsuzsa | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | +2m38.2s |
| 7 | Gardemeister T. / Suominen Tapio | Škoda Fabia S2000 | +3m05.6s |
| 8 | Bútor Róbert / Bacigál Igor | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +3m16.8s |
| 9 | Magalhães B. / Grave Paulo | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +3m51.7s |
| 10 | Harrach Beppo / Schindlbacher A. | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | +4m14.0s |
| 11 | Kruuda Karl / Järveoja M. | Škoda Fabia S2000 | +4m16.1s |
| 12 | Botka Dávid / Szenner Zsolt | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | +4m51.5s |
| 13 | Tóth János / Tagai Róbert | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +5m15.9s |
| 14 | Wallenwein Mark / Kopczyk Stefan | Škoda Fabia S2000 | +5m34.3s |
| 15 | Ranga László / Benkő András | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | +4m51.5s |