Barum Czech Rally Zlín 

Stříteský wins the first leg, end of the day marked by heavy rain

18. 8. 2024 - Vojtěch Gargulák, Roman Ordelt

Saturday's program of the first leg of the 53rd BARUM CZECH RALLY ZLÍN 2024 continued in the afternoon with the second passes of four special stages. This time the weather had a significant impact on the standings, as torrential rain swept through the Zlín region during the afternoon. The Rajnochovice stage was almost completely on water, the second passage through Bunč was cancelled due to impassable access roads. The Czech crew of the Auto Podbabská Škoda Mol Team Dominik Stříteský, Jiří Hovorka in the Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 remains the overall leader after the first leg.

In the early afternoon, it looked like Erik Cais would continue his great pursuit race as he won both the sixth and seventh stages and closed the gap to the leader Stříteský to four seconds. Austrian Simon Wagner was also fast, maintaining his third position, while Jan Kopecký dropped out of the elite ten after a puncture in the morning.

During the second passage through the Rajnochovice special stage, the situation changed dramatically. The sunny weather was replaced by a sudden torrential rain, which caused problems especially to the crews without wet tires. It was the local favorite Cais who lost the most - over forty seconds on the eighth SS. Even the experienced drivers had problems on the extremely slippery track. Jan Kopecký was very lucky to hit a bale of hay after he went off the track, which fortunately did not cause any major damage to his Fabia RS Rally2. Even worse was European Champion Hayden Paddon (Hyundai i20 N Rally2), having a puncture on the track and, like Kopecký in the morning, losing several minutes.

Heavy torrential rain lasted for around an hour, causing flooding in a number of locations including the approach roads to the ninth Bunč stage. As a result, the event headquarters decided to cancel it and thus Saturday's leg of the Barum rally ended earlier. Dominik Stříteský will stay in the leading position overnight and will defend his twenty-one second lead over second-placed Simon Wagner on Sunday. There is a close gap between third and sixth place, with Adam Březík, Erik Cais, Filip Mareš and Mathieu Franceschi all within just twelve seconds from each other.

After the first leg, the ERC3 category is led by the championship leader Filip Kohn from the Czech Republic (Ford Fiesta Rally3). On the last stage of the day, Polish driver Hubert Kowalczyk (Renault Clio Rally3) crashed from second place. Hungarian Patrik Herczig ends up as the leader of the ERC4 category, 25 seconds ahead of Zlín rally ambassador Daniel Polášek (both Peugeot 208 Rally4). Herczig is also the fastest driver of 2WDs.

This season of Barum rally will culminate on Sunday, 18th August, with the final second leg. A total of six special stages on three sections called Semetín, Pindula and Halenkovice are on the agenda. The crews will have to complete 81 sharp kilometres. The first car will appear on the finish ramp on Náměstí Míru square in front of the city hall shortly before 6 pm.

53rd BARUM CZECH RALLY ZLÍN 2024 – standings after 1st leg
1. Stříteský, Hovorka (CZE, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) 55:46,6 min
2. S. Wagner, Hain (AUT/DEU, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 21,1 s
3. A. Březík, Krajča (CZE, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 45,9 s
4. Cais, Bacigál (CZE/SVK, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 + 46,1 s
5. Mareš, Bucha (CZE, Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) + 52,8 s
6. Franceschi, Malfoy (FRA, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 57,2 s
7. Llarena, Fernández (ESP, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 1:12,4 min
8. Marczyk, Gospodarczyk (POL, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 1:14,2 min
9. Neubauer, Ettel (AUT, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 1:20,8 min
10. Kopecký, Hloušek (CZE, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 2:34,5 min

20. Kohn, Woodburn (CZE/GBR, Ford Fiesta Rally3), 1st in ERC3 + 5:52,3 min
25. P. Herczig, Varga (HUN, Peugeot 208 Rally4), 1st in ERC4 and 2WD + 7:23,4 min

SS Victories:
5 – Cais, 1 – S. Wagner, A. Březík, Stříteský

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