Barum Czech Rally Zlín 

Barum rally again as a part of the European Rally Championship!

6. 11. 2015 - Roman Ordelt

Barum Czech Rally Zlín, the greatest motorsport event in the Czech Republic, is going to take again a part in the European Rally Championship. The series' promoter, Eurosport Events Ltd., has revealed a calendar of the upcoming season containing ten rounds overall. And the Czech one is there in its usual date from 26 to 28 August 2016. So, the 46th edition of the Barum rally will be again a highlight of the summer holiday!

Barum rally, based in the East-Moravian city of Zlín, has belonged to the continental FIA series since 1984 and during that time it has successfully built a reputation of one of the championship's pillars. Recent 45^th anniversary Barum Czech Rally Zlín was really successful one. It was won by Škoda Motorsport factory crew of Jan Kopecký and Pavel Dresler with a new Škoda Fabia R5. Jan Kopecký has become the first driver ever winning the Barum rally four times. The competition was entered by 129 crews from 25 countries!

Zlín rally organizers managed to keep the rally among the ERC events despite a recent lowering their number from twelve to ten. And they hold the position also for 2016. "We are really grateful that the rally has been supported by the city of Zlín, the Zlín region, our long-term general partner Continental Barum s.r.o., CzechTourism agency and many other partners and sponsors who enable to organize the rally on such high level. We are happy that also in tough economical situation the rally hasn't disappeared from Zlín. Many thanks to everyone for this cooperation. We run the rally in country where people love this sport and their passion has year by year created a great atmosphere at the rally route. Big thanks also to all visitors, who came to Zlín," said Mr. Miloslav Regner, the Clerk of the Course.

In 2015 the Barum rally organizers ran also another project – the "Marrow4Tomorrow" campaign joined successful Happy Rally (www.happyrally.eu). "The project Marrow4Tomorrow has been focused on finding potential bone-marrow donors. And the feedback is just great – during the rally we brought 571 people to Czech donors' registry which makes 1% of current donors' fund. Rally people simply showed that their hearts beat not only for fast cars and adrenaline, but for basic humanity as well," said Mr. Jan Regner, the Deputy CoC.

In 2016 the Barum Czech Rally Zlín will be held as the penultimate event of the ten-rounds-ERC series. The championship will kick off in February in snowy Latvia and its finale will go on at the end of September on the island of Cyprus. The list of rallies after two-years-brake again contains a tarmac event held on Canary island and a Polish newcomer, Rajd Rzeszowski. The Zlín rally will be again run as the sixth and last round of the Junior championship for young talented drivers. It will also belong to the Czech national rally championship.

The provisional calendar of the 2016 FIA ERC series:

5-7 February Rally Liepāja (Latvia, gravel/ice/snow) (J)
11-13 March Rally Islas Canarias (asphalt)
7-9 April Circuit of Ireland Rally (Northern Ireland, asphalt) (J)
6-8 May SEAJETS Acropolis Rally (Greece, gravel) **
2-4 June SATA Rallye Açores (Portugal, gravel) (J)
23-25 June Kenotek by CID LINES Ypres Rally (Belgium, asphalt) (J)
15-17 July auto24 Rally Estonia (gravel) * (J)
5-7 August Rajd Rzeszowski (Poland, asphalt)
26-28 August Barum Czech Rally Zlín (Czech Republic, asphalt) (J)
24-25 September Cyprus Rally (gravel/asphalt)
Reserve event
20-22 October Rallye International du Valais (Switzerland, asphalt)