Barum Czech Rally Zlín 

The 2025 ERC calendar has been published. Barum Czech Rally Zlín included

18. 11. 2024 - Roman Ordelt

The 2025 European Rally Championship (ERC) includes eight events in eight different countries in its calendar. The FIA World Council has approved its final form. The prestigious championship will once again visit the Czech Republic, this time for the 54th time. The BARUM CZECH RALLY ZLÍN will be held during the holiday period from August 15th to 17th, 2025. Like this year, five of the eight events will be held on tarmac and three on unpaved gravel. The calendar includes a new rally in Andalusia, Spain, the Croatian Rally and the gravel Rajd Polski in the area around the Masurian Lakes.

The Zlín Rally is always one of the major events of the European championship. Four decades ago, Barum rally was included in the European Championship series, which has been held regularly since 1953. The first time European points were contested in Zlín was in 1984. "Re-inclusion in the European Championship is an appreciation of the quality work of the entire organizing team, which has been involved in the successful course of the competition for many years. This year was unforgettable for us in many ways, and Barum rally has once again proven its place among the elite rallies in Europe. It is necessary to highlight the partners, without whose support we would not be able to compete. Continental Barum s.r.o. has been supporting us for a long time as a general and title sponsor. Important partners are also the city of Zlín and the Zlín Region. Being part of the ERC is an obligation for us to continue the organizational standard we have set and to prepare a quality event again," said Miloslav Regner, chairman of the Barum Czech Rally Zlín organizing committee.

The European Championship has been held since 2022 under the wings of WRC Promoter GmbH, based in Munich, Germany, which belongs to the Red Bull group. The promoter of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) series also secures the rights for the ERC, which was an important shift in the world of rallying for this championship. The level of the championship has increased significantly in recent years, as evidenced by the large number of quality drivers competing for European points, mostly well-known drivers from the World Championship. Hayden Paddon from New Zealand defended the European title, last year the experienced Mads Ostberg from Norway and the Latvian youngster Martins Sesks finished on the podium. This year, Mathieu Franceschi from France and Mikolaj Marczyk from Poland secured the medal positions.

The Zlín rally will once again take playce on the traditional holiday date in mid-August. "The crews will collect their itineraries on Wednesday morning, and during the afternoon and on Thursday they will have recce. On Friday, there will be a qualifying run on a section over six kilometers long. The reason for the new regulation from the FIA is so that the drivers have a chance to correct any mistakes and are not disadvantaged when picking the starting order. After the ceremonial start in front of the town hall, we will traditionally start the rally with a Super special stage in the night streets of the regional capital. This time, we will return to the composition of three special stages on Saturday and Sunday, with each stage being run twice. We will run 13 special stages on seven sections. Fans can traditionally look forward to the Star Rally Historic and the Rally Legend demonstration run," said Ing. Jan Regner, rally director.

With the announcement of the ERC calendar for 2025, new challenges are prepared for the competition teams and crews. After years, the calendar will once again offer a rally in the interior of Spain, which will open the entire series at the beginning of April. The event in the Canary Islands has been promoted to the World Championship and will be replaced after years by an tarmac competition in Andalusia. The Rallye Internacional Sierra Morena with its center in Córdoba will be held for the first time. The final round of the European Championship is heading to Croatia this time, where the entire championship will finish in early October. After four years of participation in the WRC, the Croatian rally returns to the European Championship, where it last appeared in 2013.

After a one-year absence, one of the oldest competitions, the Rajd Polski, on gravel tracks around the Masurian Lakes, is also returning to the ERC. This year, the 80th anniversary edition has been part of the World Championship and was held around Mikolajki. The crews will then visit Veszprém, Hungary, on gravel tracks again, after this year's successful premiere, and at the end of May, the Royal Rally of Scandinavia in Sweden will take place. The calendar of the oldest continental championship include the asphalt competitions Rally di Roma Capitale in Italy and Barum Czech Rally Zlín in the Czech Republic in the middle of a hot summer. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland will also have its tarmac rally, and after this year's successful premiere, the Ceredigion Rally in Wales will take place again. After years, an event in the Baltics is missing in the calendar. Rally Estonia has returned to the World Championship and Latvian rally is surprisingly taking a break.

The European championship was founded 71 years ago as the first international competition for competitive drivers. It was not until 20 years later, in 1973, that the world championship series was founded.

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