Barum Czech Rally Zlín 

105 crews accepted the itinerary, Tempestini and Semerád will not start

25. 8. 2022 - Roman ORDELT

The 51st Barum Czech Rally Zlín 2022 experienced a stress test on Wednesday. A total of 105 crews from 21 countries out of the original 115 entries entered the elite event, which is part of the FIA European Rally Championship (ERC) and the 2022 Czech Rally Championship (MCR). Of the leading crews, only Simone Tempestini from Romania and Czech driver Petr Semerád were excused.

Among the biggest favourites of this year's Barum rally are Jan Kopecký from the Czech Republic, nine-time winner of the Zlín Rally and champion of the last six editions of the Barum rally, and Efrén Llarena from Spain (both Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo), this year's precrowned European champion. Other Czech drivers Erik Cais (Ford Fiesta Rally2) and Filip Mareš (Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) are among the aspirants to medal positions as well. A number of the leading crews already appeared at the evening autograph session in the Shopping and Entertainment Centre Golden Apple in Zlín, where more than a thousand enthusiastic rally fans came to get their signatures.

Ten crews were excused by the Zlín organizers. Simone Tempestini from Romania, the second driver in the European Championship standings, did not come to Zlín, and Petr Semerád, the Czech representative of a wild youth (both in Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo), will not be there either. In the ERC4 Junior category, Norbert Maior from Romania (Peugeot 208 Rally4) and Mattia Vita from Italy (Ford Fiesta Rally4) are missing. In the European starting field, Czech drivers David Štefan (Peugeot 208 Rally4) and Dominik Brož (Peugeot 208 R2) have also been excused. Michal Vaňhara (Peugeot 208 R2), Daniel Vladyka (Ford Fiesta Rally4), Roman Popovič from Slovakia (Peugeot 208 Rally4) and Martin Čagánek (Škoda Felicia) will be absent from the Czech championship standings. "The first to pick up the necessary materials early in the morning was Honza Hloušek, co-driver of Jan Kopecký, the biggest favourite of the Barum rally and nine-time winner of the Zlín rally. In short, the defending champions don't want to leave anything to chance. All the crews passed the administrative acceptance thanks to the system following the issue of itineraries. As in previous years, the biggest rush was concentrated in the afternoon after the end of the test in Halenkovice," said Ing. Petr Linhart, Deputy Clerk of the Course of Barum Czech Rally Zlín.

On Thursday 25 August, the crews started their reconnaissance on the tracks of the Březová, Držková, Semetín, Maják, Pindula and the qualifying test/shakedown in Žlutava. In the night hours they will take part in the Super Special Stage and on Friday morning they will cover the last Bunč stage.

The 51st Barum Czech Rally Zlín starts on Friday, 26 August at 4 p.m. on the square in front of the Zlín City Hall, and the three-day rally ends on the finish ramp at the same place on Sunday, 28 August shortly after 7 p.m. This year's Barum rally measures 624.23 km in total and includes 13 special stages on seven sections with a total length of 202.57 km. The warm-up to the rally itself will be a qualifying SS, called shakedown, 4.57 km long in Žlutava, which will be on the programme already on Friday morning.

There have been several changes and corrections in the entry list for co-drivers. There is a clarification of the surname of the French co-driver with the starting number 25, which is correctly spelled Pelamourgues. Italy's Andrea Mazzocchi (starting number 42) is changing his co-driver as Nicolo Gonella will replace Silvia Gallotti. The Taiwanese crew of Dai-Wei Yein, Tsung-Yu Hsieh will drive in the RC4 class in a Ford Fiesta Rally4 instead of a Peugeot 208 R2.

In the Czech championship, Tomáš Zapletal will join Tomáš Janota (starting number 97) instead of Barbora Mrkvicová. Tomáš Zig (starting number 106) will will race with Peter Buschbacher from Slovakia instead of Tomáš Kurečka.

The following crews have been excused:
2 Simone Tempestini, Sergiu Itu (ROU, Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo), Simone Tempestini
18 Petr Semerád, Danny Persein (CZE, Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo), Petr Semerád
30 Norbert Maior, Francesca Maior (ROU, Peugeot 208 Rally4), Norbert Maior
32 Mattia Vita, Sofia D´Ambrosi (ITA, Ford Fiesta Rally4), Mattia Vita
56 David Štefan, Ondřej Vichtora (CZE, Peugeot 208 Rally4), David Štefan
59 Dominik Brož (CZE, Peugeot 208 R2), Dominik Brož

86 Michal Vaňhara, Vojtěch Mudrák (CZE, Peugeot 208 R2), Vojtěch Mudrák
87 Daniel Vladyka, Igor Norek (CZE, Ford Fiesta Rally4), Daniel Vladyka
92 Roman Popovič, Matúš Lejka (SVK, Peugeot 208 Rally4), ARP Racing
116 Martin Čagánek (CZE, Škoda Felicia), Martin Čagánek

More information available at www.czechrally.com and don't forget to follow Barum rally on the official Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts.

In Zlín 25 August 2022

Roman ORDELT
Press Relations Officer
Barum Czech Rally Zlín