Andreas Mikkelsen finished 8th on the Barum Czech Rally Zln in his factory-prepared KODA UK Motorsport Fabia S2000 to maintain his lead in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.Juho Hnninen (KODA Motorsport) won the event as the first six places were filled with KODA Fabia S2000s, although the podium celebrations and final stage (SS15) were cancelled as a mark of respect following an accident on SS13 that claimed the life of a spectator. KODA UK Motorsport would like to extend its condolences to all those involved in the tragic accident.Changeable weather during Leg 1 made tyre choice exceptionally difficult, and Andreas lost 14.4 seconds on Friday nights opening superspecial stage around Zln city centre when rain offered little grip to his slick tyres.Saturdays constantly changing weather continued to make tyre choice a lottery, although Andreas was one of the best to master the slippery conditions as he and co-driver Ola Flene took the lead after setting fastest times on SS4.The KODA UK Motorsport Fabia S2000s technical set-up was perfect for the twisty narrow asphalt roads. However, the Tesk stage had a slippery section with very long and fast corners, which didnt suit the set-up so well, meaning that Andreas dropped 33.4 seconds to leader Hnninen over its two runs (SS7/9).Andreas started Sundays second and final leg in 3rd place, but lost almost five minutes on the days opening stage when he clipped a kerb at a left hand corner and had to stop twice to replace punctured front and rear right tyres.Having dropped to 10th, Andreas had worked his way up to 8th before the rally was stopped one stage before scheduled.Andreas: Its been a difficult weekend with a lot of difficult tyre choices, which I dont think anyone has got right all of the time. I went in a new direction with my set-up before the rally, and maybe that wasnt the way to go because the car felt better on Leg 2 when we changed it back. I struggled a little in the wet, but in the dry I felt more confident and I was a lot more competitive. A lot of the time I was happy with my performance. The team did a fantastic job, the Fabia S2000 was perfect and we scored what may prove to be some very important points.Final positions (provisional after SS15)1. Juho Hnninen/Mikko Markkula (KODA Fabia S2000).2hrs 11mins 28.2secs 2. Roman Kresta/Petr Gross (KODA Fabia S2000).+1min 43.1secs 3. Tom Kostka/Miroslav Houť (KODA Fabia S2000).1min +51.8secs 4. Jaromr Tarabus/Daniel Trunkt (KODA Fabia S2000).+4mins 11.7secs 5. Robert Barrable/Stuart Loudon (KODA Fabia S2000).+4mins 33.6secs 6. Karl Kruuda/Martin Jrveoja (KODA Fabia S2000).+5mins 03.0secs 7. Andreas Aigner/Ilka Minor (Subaru Impreza).+5mins 34.6secs 8. Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Flene (KODA Fabia S2000).+5mins 36.8secs 9. Michał Sołowow/Maciej Baran (Peugeot 207 S2000).+6mins 18.7secs 10. Sepp Wiegand/Timo Gottschalk (KODA Fabia S2000).+7mins 21.8secs IRC points (provisional after Round 9)Drivers1. Andreas Mikkelsen.136pts 2. Juho Hnninen.93pts 3. Jan Kopeck83pts 4. Sepp Wiegand.53pts 5. Giandomenico Basso.40pts 6. Patrik Flodin.28pts-