Barum Czech Rally Zlín 

Tomáš Kostka: Even on circuits everybody has heard about Barum rally

7. 8. 2015 - Evžen GARGULÁK, Roman ORDELT

Apart from the very well known names like Jan Kopecký and Václav Pech also Tomáš Kostka has recently found his way to the company of the most successful Czech drivers at Barum Czech Rally Zlín. One month before Barum rally's start the thirty-year-old Zlín-born driver accepted an invitation to a press conference where he revealed his plans for this year's event. In 2012 with a Škoda Fabia S2000 and in 2014 with a Ford Fiesta R5 Kostka finished third and this year he intends to reach the top three once again.

Tomáš Kostka is originally a circuit driver who managed to win races in the Czech Republic and in Europe as well. For example in 2009 he was named the novice driver of the year in the DTM championship. "From the perspective of road racing this season is mostly about testing. Eventhough I am not competing at the moment my attention is still on the races and the development of the car of the GT class. If everything goes well I will be back road racing the next year." When not road racing, Kostka likes to do rally. In fact, three years ago he managed to win the title in Czech rallysprint series with a Citroën C4 WRC.

Despite not competing in many stages Kostka is a home driver and in July in Vyškov he won a rallysprint driving a Ford Fiesta WRC. And he does not want to miss the Barum rally. "I reached twice the third place. If I had to compare these two successful years I would say that the last year was harder because before the final stage our car suddenly stopped and we could not get it to start again for a few minutes. In the end our Fiesta did start and we even closely missed on the second place." It is one month until Barum rally and Kostka's car is still a mystery. But the decision should be made soon. "For sure I can say I will participate. However, at the moment I am wondering which car it is going to be. It is going to be either Ford Fiesta WRC or some R5 car. I plan to test R5 cars and afterwards I will decide," said Tomáš Kostka, father of a three-year-old Matthias.

When meeting with the reporters Kostka praised Barum rally's atmosphere and said that the night special stage is a real show for the spectators and that he as a driver enjoys it as well. "For a home driver there is nothing better than competing at Barum rally. The atmosphere is amazing and the race is great. In other countries they have heard about this competition and know how much fans it always attracts not to mention the vast competition," said Kostka.