Barum Czech Rally Zlín 

Thrilling fights in the first leg of Star Rally Historic

18. 8. 2024 - David Štícha

This year, the 16th STAR RALLY HISTORIC 2024, part of the Czech Historic Rally Championship, is also part of the Barum Czech Rally Zlín. This year's starting field includes contemporary cars such as Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III, Ford Escort RS 1600, Škoda 130 LR or Seat Ibiza Gti. These cars and their crews will complete 13 special stages spread over all three days of the event.

Before the contemporary rally specials kicked off, the roaring engines of historic vehicles roared through the streets of Zlín during Friday's urban stage. With loud cheers from the spectators around the track, Vlastimil Neumann and Martin Hlavatý won with the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III. They were closely followed by Jaroslav Vančík and Jan Tománek in the BMW M3 with a loss of 2.1 seconds. The first three were completed by Martin Černý and Jiří Haferník in the same car. Saturday morning was accompanied by sunny weather. In the opening SS Březová, Neumann and Vančík continued a close battle, with Vančík taking the lead by just four hundredths of a second. Third place was still held by Černý.

The exchange of first and second place continued on the third SS Kateřinice, where Neumann won again by 1.4 seconds ahead of Vančík. Martin Klepáč and Ivan Říhánek in the Peugeot 306 Maxi ended third in Kateřinice. However, they were still 21.7 seconds behind third-placed Černý in the overall standings. Neumann also managed to win the fourth SS Rajnochovice in a close battle with Vančík, but due to a ten-second penalty he dropped to second place. Miroslav Janouch and Josef Král in the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III also set a good time on the SS.

The afternoon's fifth SS Bunč was hit by a strong thunderstorm, which was better handled by Neumann, who took a lead of one minute and 15 seconds over Vančík. The second place on the wet track went to the Ford Escort RS 1600 with the crew of Jindřich Štolfa and Zdeněk Hawel. Neumann confirmed his lead in the overall standings. Thanks to a good time, Černý was only 5 seconds closer to the second Vančík. The rain continued at the second run at Březová too, where Vančík enjoyed the victory again. The opportunity to attack the second position was missed by Černý and in the overall standings he was pushed to the fourth position by Martin Klepáč and Ivan Říhánek in Peugeot 306 Maxi. Saturday's part of the 16th Star Rally Historic was crowned by the second passage of SS Kateřinice, which, similarly to the other afternoon stages, was affected by a very wet track. Vančík followed up his victory in Březová.

Neumann holds the first place in the overall standings after Saturday's leg with a one-minute lead over second-placed Vančík. After Kateřinice, Černý is in third place again, with only one second separating him from the fourth Klepáč.

XVI. STAR RALLY HISTORIC 2024 – standings after Saturday leg:
1. Neumann, Hlavatý (CZE, Ford Escort RS Cosworth) 57:03.1 min
2. Vančík, Tománek (CZE, BMW M3) + 1:03.4 min
3. M. Černý, Haferník (CZE, BMW M3) + 2:05.0 min
4. Klepáč, Řihánek (CZE, Peugeot 306 Maxi) + 2:06.0 min
5. P. Pavlát, M. Pavlát (CZE, Toyota Celica GT Four) + 4:26.0 min
6. Petr Jurečka, Pavel Jurečka (CZE, Subaru Impreza 555) + 4:29.9 min
7. Janouch, Král (CZE, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III) + 4:47.9 min
8. Knížek, Šlegl (CZE, BMW 318 iS) + 5:07.9 min
9. Štolfa, Hawel (CZE, Ford Escort RS 1600) + 5:09.5 min
10. Kašpar, Adámek (CZE, Škoda 130 LR) + 6:21.6 min

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.