Juho Hanninen and co-driver Mikko Markkula won in a spectacular fashion Barum Rally Zlin, round nine of IRC series 2012. The Skoda Motosport crew set a very fast pace on the wet and muddy stages around Zlin and won their first victory in the Czech rally. Except the 25 points for the IRC, Haninen and Markkula took 25 points for the European Rally championship which granted their title for 2012.

However the joy of the winners was put aside due to a tragic accident on stage 13. On this stage Vaclav Kopachek lost control over his car, went off the road and hit spectators who were standing in a forbidden area. One of the spectators passed away while the other was transported immediately to hospital and the rally was stopped.

Second place in Zlin was for Roman Kresta (Skoda Fabia S2000). He had a very close battle with the pleasant surprise of the rally Tomas Kostka (Skoda Fabia S2000). Both were swapping their places after every stage but the more experienced Kresta manged to finnish in the second place. The gap between him and third placed Kostka was just 8.7 seconds.

One of the prettender for the victory was the local star Jan Kopecky. Unfortunately he was forced to retire after having problems with the engine of his Skoda Fabia S2000,

The current leader in the championship Andreas Mikkelsen (Norway, Skoda Fabia S2000) had a tough rally and managed to finish on 8th position overall. He had two punctures and a small accident and this stopped him from fighting for the podium. Despite his 8th place in Zlin he is still the leader in the series.

Victory in production cup was for the Austrian driver Andreas Aigner (Subaru Impreza R4). First place in 2WD cup went to the local driver Jan Cerny (Citroen DS3 R3T).