Kresta began his rally career in 1994, driving a Škoda Favorit 136L with Jan Tománek as his co-driver. After three seasons with the Škoda Favorit, he switched to a Škoda Felicia in 1997, competing in the CEZ championship as a member of the Czech National Team. In 1998, he won his first title in the A5 class of the Czech championship, followed by an A6 class Czech title in 1999 with a Škoda Felicia Kit Car.
In 2000, Kresta and Tománek drove a Škoda Octavia WRC for Škoda Motorsport, winning their first overall Czech national rally championship title. They also won two national rallies that were part of the European Rally Championship: Bohemia Rallye and Barum Rally. Kresta defended his Czech national title in 2001.
Kresta made his WRC debut in June 2001 at the Acropolis Rally in Greece, driving a Jolly Club's Ford Focus WRC, but retired due to technical issues. He later drove a factory-entered Škoda Octavia WRC at the Safari Rally in Kenya, retiring with a broken wheel. He recorded two more retirements in WRC events with Škoda that year, at Rallye Sanremo and Rally GB.
In 2002, Kresta had six WRC starts with different evolutions of the Škoda Octavia WRC. He finished 14th at the 2002 Tour de Corse and achieved his best result of 7th place at the Safari Rally.
For the 2003 season, Kresta drove a Peugeot 206 WRC for the French team Bozian Racing. Miloš Hulka was his co-driver for the first part of the year before Jan Tománek rejoined him. He scored his first championship point with an 8th place finish at the season-closing Wales Rally GB.
In 2004, Kresta competed in WRC events with various cars: a private Hyundai Accent WRC at Rallye Monte-Carlo, a Ford Focus RS WRC at Acropolis Rally, and a Škoda Fabia WRC for Škoda Motorsport at ADAC Rallye Deutschland. He retired from all three events.
For the 2005 WRC season, Kresta was a factory driver for BP Ford World Rally Team, driving the #4 Ford Focus RS WRC. His teammate was Toni Gardemeister. Kresta scored points in 11 of 16 rallies, achieving two fifth-place finishes at Tour de Corse and Rally Catalunya. He finished 8th overall in the championship with 29 points, his career-best season. However, his performances were not sufficient to retain his seat for 2006, which went to Mikko Hirvonen.
After the 2005 season, Kresta remained associated with Ford as a test driver. His co-driver changed to Petr Gross, and they used a Ford Fiesta S1600 in British Rally Championship events.
Kresta returned to the Czech national rally championship, winning titles in 2008 and 2009. In 2008, he won four rallies with a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX for Mogul Racing Team. In 2009, he switched to a Peugeot 207 S2000, securing another championship trophy with three victories.
In 2010, Kresta returned to WRC as a privateer, competing at Rally Sweden and Rally Finland with his own Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX. He retired from Rally Sweden due to fuel tank problems and finished 23rd overall at Rally Finland.
Also in 2010, Kresta competed in two rounds of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC). At Barum Rally Zlín, he drove a Škoda Fabia S2000 but retired after a crash while holding fifth position. He finished sixth at the final IRC round, the 2010 Cyprus Rally, as the best-placed driver not in an S2000 car. He also participated in the Golden Stage Rally at Cyprus.
Kresta won his fifth and final Czech national rally title in 2011, driving a Škoda Fabia S2000 for Adell Mogul Racing Team. He finished second in the championship in 2012, his last full season. From 2013 onwards, Kresta reduced his rally activities, occasionally participating in Czech national events and managing his own rally team.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
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