Articles

Adam Březík fights for top positions at Barum rally

25. 7. 2023 - Roman ORDELT

Adam Březík from Lukov is determined to break the bad luck that is sticking to his heels during the Barum Czech Rally Zlín. Last year, he held third place at the start of the home rally, but a technical problem caused a significant loss on the second pass through Slušovice. In the end, he fought back and finished eleventh in the final standings, having at least made up for it by winning the final Power Stage. This year, the Samohýl Skoda Team driver hopes to change the unfavourable fate.

Adam Březík has had five starts on his favourite rally. In 2021 he didn't finish due to an accident, last year he was stopped by a component failure that cost a few crowns. "Barum rally is a cursed event for us. The first start in 2016 in an Opel Adam Cup car was a learning experience, a leap into the unknown. The second start was already better with the Peugeot 208 R2 and the third year I enjoyed driving the Peugeot, unfortunately we did not escape technical problems. These were repeated afterwards. Now we are doing our best not to be stopped by some triviality. The car will undergo an extensive overhaul as far as possible, we are replacing all the cheap parts with completely new ones," said the 27-year-old driver.

Březík took part in his first rally at the end of 2015, when he took part in the Mikuláš rally in Slušovice in a Honda Civic VTi. Over the seven seasons, he has won the overall title in one-day rallysprints in 2019 and last year won the Cup 2+ ranking in one-day competitions. Last year he scored first place in Fulnek, Vyškov, Moravia and in Vsetín, the year before he celebrated victory in Rally Vsetín for the first time. This year he is fourth in the Czech Championship with his Škoda Fabia R5, only seven points behind second place. Recently, he was among the top three for the first time on a two-day rally, as he and his co-driver Ondrej Krajča finished third overall on Rally Bohemia. "This season didn't start exactly as we expected, because we had a puncture on the Wallachian circuit and a drop in the standings followed, which we then worked our way up. If it hadn't happened, the points gain could have been even better. Then the alternator failed in Český Krumlov and we resigned from the third place. After the last events we are satisfied and we want to go even higher," said Březík, who was unbeatable at the Kopná Rallysprint in early May.

The fifty-second edition of the Barum rally will offer exactly two hundred kilometres of special stages over three days. The Zlín driver knows the home tracks well, but he certainly doesn't take it as an advantage. "I remember where who was crashing, where it was tossing. Barum rally is tricky in this way, and if you don't concentrate for a while, another spot can surprise you. Driving home is tricky, the pressure of the neighbourhood won't be small. However, Ondra and I have to get into the race to be the best we can," concluded Adam Březík.

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