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Sordo claims Rally Zlín podium

Hyundai's Dani Sordo claimed a podium finish at last weekend's Barum Czech Rally Zlín on his competitive debut in an R5-spec i20.

The Spaniard ran inside the top five for the majority of the weekend at the European championship encounter before moving up to third in mixed wet weather conditions with just two stages remaining.

But Sordo had to give his best in the closing kilometres when he gambled on a full wet weather set-up for roads that turned out to be drier than he expected. Despite struggling for grip, 35-year-old Sordo held the position by the razor-thin margin of 0.3sec from hard-charging local Miroslav Jakeš.

As well as a welcome confidence boost after his retirement from second place at ADAC Rallye Deutschland, the result gave Sordo more sealed-surface experience ahead of his home RallyRACC Catalunya - Rally de España (25-28 October) - the last round of his 2018 WRC campaign.

"It was a really nice event," Sordo explained. "It was an incredible rally and I enjoyed it. Honestly, I don't care about the position, other guys were really fast. I came here and didn´t know what to expect."

Victory went to WRC 2 championship leader Jan Kopecký in a Skoda Fabia R5. The Czech driver recovered from three punctures in the first leg to seal his fourth consecutive Zlín victory - and the eighth of his career.

Zdroj: wrc.com