Barum Czech Rally Zlín 

124 crews appeared in the Secretariat of Barum Rally

23. 8. 2018 - Roman Ordelt

It was a busy time at the Secretariat of Barum rally. By Wednesday noon the total number of 124 crews from 25 countries competing in FIA European Rally Championship (ERC) and Autoklub Czech Rally Championship 2018 (MCR) turned up. The most eager fans could already spot and got an autograph of the top crews on Tuesday afternoon at the Shopping and Entertainment Centre Golden Apple in Zlín. This year's biggest favourites are Jan Kopecký (Škoda Fabia R5) from factory team Škoda Motorsport who has won Barum rally six times, then Daniel Sordo (Hyundai i20 R5) from Spain, a Hyundai factory driver, and the current leader of ERC 2018 Alexey Lukyanuk (Ford Fiesta R5).

Thirty-one cars R5 category will be ready for a big start. Unfortunately, some of the top names excused themselves like Eyvind Brynildsen (Ford Fiesta R5) from Norway and two drivers from Poland Lukasz Habaj (Ford Fiesta R5) and Aleksander Zawada (Hyundai i20 R5). On Tuesday at noon Marta Regnerová, a long-time head of the Secretariat, opened the doors. "The first one who came to pick up her itinerary was Ekaterina Stratieva from Bulgaria and there were tears. Because she mentioned that this is her last time here, she's decided to say goodbye to rally. We're very happy that she found the resources to race here. The biggest rush was between four and five o'clock," said Marta Regnerová. By Tuesday night 119 crews were reported. The remaining five crews appeared on Wednesday morning making the final number of Barum rally participants 124.

On Wednesday afternoon the crews were already going through reconnaissance on special stages. The special stages of Leg 2 were first on the list (SS Halenkovice, Maják, Kašava and Qualifying Stage – Shakedown Komárov), for Thursday are scheduled stages of Leg 1 (Březová, Semetín, Rajnochovice, Kudlovice) and finally the SSS in the streets of Zlín. The 48th Barum Czech Rally Zlín begins on Friday 24th August at 4 p.m. on Náměstí Míru Square in front of the City Hall, and the three-day rally finishes on the same place on Sunday 26th August at 4:49 p.m. The length of rally is 741.74 km comprising of 15 Special Stages of total length 212.73 km on eight sections. A pre-rally foreplay called Qualifying Stage and Shakedown, length 4.84 km, on section Komárov - Pohořelice is on Friday morning.

Some changes were made in the List of Entries, specifically on a co-pilot position. Vojtěch Štajf's co-pilot is Emil Horniaček from Slovakia and Michal Vaňhara's is Kateřina Janovská. For the Czech championship these are the following changes: Miroslav Janota and Bohumil Černoch (co-pilot), Miroslav Čabaj - Patrik Janeček and David Suchařípa - Martina Picková.

The following crews excused themselves:
8 Eyvind Brynildsen, Torstein Eriksen (NOR, Škoda Fabia R5, Eyvind Brynildsen)
15 Lukasz Habaj, Daniel Dymurski (POL, Škoda Fabia R5, Rallytechnology)
20 Aleksander Zawada (POL, Hyuindai i20 R5, Aleksander Zawada)
32 Csaba Juhász, Zsolt Juhász (HUN, Mitsubishi Lancer EVO X, Csaba Juhász)
37 Andrea Modanesi, Roberto Mometti (ITA, Fiat 124 Abarth, Andrea Modanesi)
58 Jaroslaw Szeja, Marcin Szeja (POL, Ford Fiesta R5, Kowax Racing)
60 Ondřej Bisaha (CZE, Ford Fiesta R5, Ondřej Bisaha)
74 Pavel Vedra (CZE, Citroën DS3 R3T, Pavel Vedra)
75 Milan Obadal, Martin Kouřil (CZE, Renault Clio R3, Milan Obadal)
78 Arkadiusz Lechoszest, Marcin Szeja (POL, Peugeot 208 R2, Arkadiusz Lechoszest)
81 Ragnar Bjorngaroson, Ólafur Sigurosson (ISL, Citroën DS3 R1, Ragnar Bjorngaroson)

111 Pavel Janovský, Kateřina Janovská (CZE, Renault Clio Sport, Kateřina Janovská)
125 Jaroslav Kastner, Dominik Kubín (CZE, Honda Civic Type-R, Jaroslav Kastner)
135 Petr Hapala, Zbyněk Kozák (CZE, Škoda Fabia Fabia, Petr Hapala)