Peugeot Belgium-Luxemburg driver Freddy Loix has claimed his second IRC win of the season on the Barum Rally Zlin, round six of this year's series, after a masterful drive from beginning to end.

"I needed to score some points to improve my place in the championship, so this is exactly the best way to do it," said a satisfied Loix. "My objective is still to be in the top three at the end of the year, so another win is the best way to go about it."

"This gives me a lot of confidence for the rest of the season," the Belgian driver added.

By finishing second, his teammate Nicolas Vouilloz makes sure that he stays in the lead of the championship.

Vouilloz, who claimed the opening spectator superspecial stage on Friday night in Zlin, challenged Loix for victory right up until this morning's loop of stages. A loose screw on SS11 meant that a front driveshaft broke loose, reducing his Peugeot 207 S2000 to just three-wheel drive.

But the dramas were not over yet for Vouilloz, as the afternoon held its own problem: a broken starter motor on the penultimate stage meant that he lost another 30 seconds. As a result, he headed into the final stage with a margin of just 6.5 seconds over the third-placed man.

Completing the podium was another 207 S2000, in the hands of Peugeot Poland driver Bryan Bouffier. The Frenchman was handed a minute's penalty on Saturday evening for clocking into SS9 too early, but he was the only person to properly challenge the two Peugeot Belgium drivers on pace.

Luca Rossetti had occupied the final podium place until the final stage on Saturday, when he picked up a puncture that cost nearly three minutes and put an end to his top trio aspirations on this rally.

The top local driver was Pavel Valousek, whose fourth place finish in a Peugeot 207 S2000 is the best overall result obtained on an IRC event by a member of the BFGoodrich Drivers Team. After a thrilling battle that went all the way to the final stage, the young Czech just beat the Abarth Grande Punto S2000 of former European Champion Renato Travaglia by 2.8 seconds - despite completing the last five kilometres without any power steering.

The Barum Rally Zlin, run on a tricky selection of asphalt roads totalling 263 competitive kilometres, proved to be the most punishing round of the IRC held so far – with several top contenders falling by the wayside.

The first and most dramatic retirement was that of local hero Roman Kresta, who rolled his Peugeot 207 on the opening stage of Saturday.

The factory Abarth team had a difficult event, with both the Grande Puntos of Giandomenico Basso and Anton Alen forced to stop on the opening morning with gearbox problems. They started again under the super rally system on Sunday, but Alen had to retire again with suspected gearbox problems while Basso completed the event well down the order.

After losing time following a visit into a ditch on Saturday, Volkswagen's Bernd Casier was nonetheless set for a top ten result... before crashing into a bridge parapet on SS11 Sunday morning.

Mitsubishi's local hero Vaclav Pech was also running strongly before dropping out of contention with a broken sumpguard.

The Intercontinental Rally Challenge's seventh round will take place in Spain at the Rallye Principe de Asturias, on 12th and 13th September.

IRC results, Barum Rally Zlin:

1.  Loix/Buysmans        Peugeot 207 S2000   2h24m24.3s
2.  Vouilloz/Klinger     Peugeot 207 S2000   +59.9s
3.  Bouffier/Panseri     Peugeot 207 S2000   +1m09.6s
4.  Valousek/Hruza       Peugeot 207 S2000   +2m23.4s
5.  Travaglia/Granai     Abarth Grande Punto +2m26.2s
6.  Toth/Tagai           Peugeot 207 S2000   +3m13.9s
7.  Rossetti/Chiarcossi  Peugeot 207 S2000   +4m09.1s
8.  Petak/Benesova       Peugeot 207 S2000   +6m08.3s
9.  Solowow/Baran        Peugeot 207 S2000   +6m22.5s
10. Odlozilik/Odlozilik  Peugeot 207 S2000   +6m45.7s
(...)

IRC driver standings after round six:

1.  Vouilloz  44   
2.  Rossetti  32   
3.  Loix      29       
4.  Basso     22
5.  Kopecky   15
6.  Hanninen  14
-   Alen      14
-   Travaglia 14
9.  Bouffier   6
-   Camacho    6
10. Casier     5 
-   Valousek   5

IRC manufacturer standings after round six:

1. Peugeot    103
2. Abarth      50
3. Mitsubishi   9
4. Volkswagen   5