Barum Czech Rally Zlín 

Barum Czech Rally Zlín to kick off with Qualifying stage

29. 7. 2014 - Petr Linhart, Barum Czech Rally Zlín

The upcoming edition of Barum Czech Rally Zlín will bring one new sporting feature even before its start. On Friday 29 August a group of selected top drivers will attend the Qualifying stage, results of which will give them an opportunity to choose their starting position for Saturday's part of the rally.

Qualifying stage had been already used for several years in the World rally championship. However in the ERC it hadn't been set up until 2013, when it was first applied at gravel competitions. And in the current season the crews go through the qualifying at every FIA ERC round.

The system of the Qualifying stage is quite simple. It's usually attended by 10 – 15 drivers with the FIA or ERC priorities. At Barum Czech Rally Zlín, these drivers can go twice through the 4.44 km long section from Pohořelice to Komárov on Friday 29 August from 8:00 to 8:55 a.m as a free practise. Their times measured during first two passes are groundless, significant will be their third pass scheduled from 9:00 to 9:25 a.m.

Crews will start this loop in two minutes interval and in scheduled order. Results of the third round will be decisive for later following choice of the starting order. Interesting detail can be found in timekeeping – while all common special stages are usually measured in tenths of second, the Qualifying stage results will be given in thousandths of second.

Right after passing the Qualifying stage the crews will return back to Otrokovice, where they hand their cars in the parc fermé near the Barum Continental company seat. The starting order choice will be then performed from 11 a.m. in satellite press centre placed in the Continental Barum s.r.o. building. First driver to choose his starting position will be the one with the best result from the Qualifying stage.

Action on the section from Pohořelice to Komárov definitely won't end up with finishing of the qualifying. While the QS attenders will choose their starting order in Otrokovice, all other non-priority drivers can enter the section switched to ordinary shakedown from 9:30 a.m. Well known testing stage will then continue for several hours, spectators can watch rally cars up to 1 p.m.