Barum Czech Rally Zlín 

Austrian Simon Wagner improved his record and won again!

17. 8. 2024 - Roman Ordelt

The 53rd BARUM CZECH RALLY ZLÍN 2024 traditionally kicked off with a spectator-attractive super special stage in the evening streets of the regional city of Zlín. Simon Wagner from Austria, navigated by co-driver Jara Hain, set the fastest time on the 9,57 km long track and improved the track record by 2,2 seconds. The second place was taken by the Czech crew of Samohýl Škoda Team Adam Březík, Ondřej Krajča with a gap of 0.8 seconds, the third place was taken by the eleven-time winner of Barum rally Jan Kopecký with his co-driver Jan Hloušek from Agrotec Škoda Rally Team with a loss of 1 second, all the best drivers were driving Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 cars.

In addition to Březík and Kopecký, the Czech drivers Dominik Stříteský (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) and Filip Mareš (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) finished fourth and fifth respectively. The European Championship leader and last year's champion Hayden Paddon from New Zealand (Hyundai i20N Rally2) finished tenth.

Another Czech driver, Erik Cais, set the same time as second-placed Březík, but was downgraded by a 20 second penalty for arriving late at the time check to seventeenth place. Fifth Italian Andrea Mabellini, seventh Efrén Llarena from Spain, eighth Miko Marczyk from Poland and ninth Mathieu Franceschi from France, all in Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 cars, also made it into the top ten.

The Polish Hubert Kowalczyk (Renault Clio Rally3) leads the ERC3 category by 5.6 seconds ahead of the championship leader Filip Kohn from the Czech Republic (Ford Fiesta Rally3). In the ERC4 category and among 2WDs, the fastest was Hungarian driver Márton Bertalan (Peugeot 208 Rally4). Barum rally ambassador Daniel Polášek set the third fastest time. A total of 98 crews from 17 countries have started this season of the Barum rally, with 62 participants in the European Rally Championship series.

Standings after 1st special stage (Super SS Zlín, length 9,57 km)
1. S. Wagner, Hain (AUT/DEU, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) 7:05,5 min
2. A. Březík, Krajča (CZE, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 0,8 s
3. Kopecký, Hloušek (CZE, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 1,0 s
4. Stříteský, Hovorka (CZE, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 3,0 s
5. Mabellini, Lenzi (ITA, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 3,2 s
Mareš, Bucha (CZE, Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) + 3,2 s
7. Llarena, Fernández (ESP, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 5,6 s
8. Marczyk, Gospodarczyk (POL, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 5,9 s
9. Franceschi, Malfoy (FRA, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 6,1 s
10. Paddon, Kennard (NZL, Hyundai i20 N Rally2) + 6,9 s

24. Kowalczyk, Hryniuk (POL, Renault Clio Rally3), 1st in ERC3 + 38,0 s
36. Bertalan, Paizs (HUN, Peugeot 208 Rally4), 1st in ERC4 and 2WD + 54,8 s

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.