Barum Czech Rally Zlín 

98 crews passed the scrutineering, Tempestini and Ostberg will not start

16. 8. 2024 - Roman Ordelt

The 53rd BARUM CZECH RALLY ZLÍN 2024 experienced a stress test. A total of 98 crews from 17 countries out of the original 106 entries entered the elite competition, which is part of the FIA European Rally Championship (ERC) and the Czech Rally Championship 2024 (MCR), and passed the scrutineering. Out of the leading crews, only Simone Tempestini from Romania and Mads Ostberg from Norway were excused.

One of the biggest favourites of this year's Barum rally is Jan Kopecký from the Czech Republic (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2), eleven-time winner of the Zlín Rally and champion of the last eight seasons, European Championship leader Hayden Paddon from New Zealand (Hyundai i20N Rally2), European Championship dark horse Mathieu Franceschi from France or last year's European Champion Efrén Llarena from Spain (both Škoda Fabia RS Rally2). Simon Wagner from Austria or Miko Marczyk from Poland are also hoping to reach the top positions. Apart from Kopecký, other Czech drivers Dominik Stříteský, Adam Březík and Erik Cais (all Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) or Filip Mareš (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) are among the medal contenders.

"The first to present himself was the Czech racer Tomáš Gajdošík, shortly followed by other participants of the starting field. The distribution of itineraries and GPS units went very smoothly and an hour after noon we had almost a hundred crews registered. The girls had a hard time since the morning hours because of the intense heat. Letting the competing crews do training from Wednesday afternoon sped things up a lot. It is worth mentioning that Ekaterina Stratieva will be competing her 15th Barum rally. She was extremely touched during the administrative acceptance. She has a lot of fans here, including her parents and friends from Bulgaria," said Marta Regnerová, long-time Secretary of the Barum Czech Rally Zlín.

The fifty-third season of the Barum Czech Rally Zlín starts on Friday, 16 August at 4 pm on the square in front of the Zlín City Hall, the three-day rally ends at the finish ramp at the same place on Sunday, 18 August after 7 pm. This year's event will cover a total distance of 674 km and include 15 special stages on eight sections with a total length of 194 km. The introduction to the rally itself will be a qualification stage, or rather a shakedown, of 2.77 km in Oldřichovice, which is scheduled for Friday morning.

There have been several changes and clarifications to the list of entries in the European field in terms of co-drivers and cars. In the international field for Slovak driver Róbert Kolčák there is a change in the co-driver's seat, where Zuzana Lieskovcová will sit. Turkish driver Kübra Denizci Keskin will drive with Ali Tugrul Kaya.

In the Czech championship, the crew of Stanislav Firtl and Libor Kubista will be driving the Ford Fiesta Rally4. Moreover, Vítězslav Baďura will join Dominik Jakeš and Petr Hlavatý will join Tomáš Kretík.

Following crews have been excused by the organisers:
5 Simone Tempestini, Sergiu Itu (ROU, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2), Simone Tempestini
6 Mads Ostberg, Patrik Barth (NOR/SWE, Citroën C3 Rally2), TRT Rally Team
21 Philip Allen, Dale Furniss (GBR, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2), Philip Allen
34 Max McRae, Fair Cameron (GBR, Peugeot 208 Rally4), TRT Rally Team

82 Maciej Spychalowicz, Lukasz Weszke (POL, Citroën C2 R2 Max), Maciej Spychalowicz
95 Marek Pilka, Ondřej Chovanec (CZE, Renault Clio Sport), Marek Pilka
99 Martin Migdal, Petr Němec (CZE, Opel Adam Cup), Kimi Sport
106 Václav Stejskal Sr. (CZE, Renault Clio Sport), Automoto club Pačejov of ACR

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