Barum Czech Rally Zlín 

129 crews picked up the itinerary, all favorites are here!

27. 8. 2015 - Roman Ordelt

All the favorites are confirmed for 45^th Barum Czech Rally Zlín. 129 crews from 24 countries came by rally secretariat on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon. None of the favorites is missing.

Many crews have already appeared at an autograph signing on Tuesday at the Shopping Centre Zlín or were seen at the official testing near Vizovice. The front runners for the seventh event of European Championship are the three times winner of Barum Rally Jan Kopecký from the Czech Republic (Škoda Fabia R5), the leading man of FIA ERC Kajetan Kajetanowicz from Poland, Russian Alexey Luyanuk, who is driving with Belarusian license (both Ford Fiesta R5), Irish Craig Breen (Peugeot 208 T16) or the defending champion Václav Pech from the Czech Republic (Mini John Cooper Works S2000).

The first ones to pick up their itinerary was the Japanese duo Suguru Kawana and Hakaru Ichino with a starting number 79. "Despite arriving one and half hour earlier and having to wait, they did not get bored. They were very curious and nice," said Marta Regnerová, a Chief Secretary of Barum Czech Rally Zlín. The second crew was a Belgian driver Joachim Wagemans and his co-driver Andy De Baeremaeker. "They were just as nice as their Japanese colleagues and it is their first time at foreign rally event," said Regnerová. 122 crews managed to stop by rally secretariat on Tuesday. The last 7 crews arrived on Wednesday morning. "Some crews decided to take their itineraries right before reconnaissance. Nonetheless, out of 143 registered crews 14 excused themselves," said a Chief Secretary.

Reconnaissance on the special stages is planned for Wednesday and Thursday. The first roads to be tested were the ones scheduled for Leg 2. On Thursday the drivers can test the special stages for Leg 1 and around midnight the closed streets in the center of Zlín for the Super Special Stage. The 45^th Barum Czech Rally Zlín begins on Friday 28th August at 5 pm at Náměstí Míru square in front of the City Hall and there it also ends on Sunday 30th August at 4 pm. At that time the competing crews will have completed the challenging rally of total length 645 km spiced up with 15 special stages of total length 229 km. Qualifying stage and shakedown are meant as a prologue as the real game starts on Friday night in the streets of Zlín and the former Bata's compound with the enormously popular Super Special Stage.

The following crews did not take the itinerary:
26 Inessa Tushkanova, Cristen Laos (FIN/EST, Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX, Inessa Tushkanova)
32 Jon Armstrong, Noel O´Sullivan (GBR/IRL, Peugeot 208 R2, Jon Armstrong)
43 Renato Pita, Mário Castro (PRT, Peugeot 208 R2, Renato Pita)
44 Szabolcs Várkonyi, Botond Csányi (HRV, Peugeot 208 R2, AK Delta Sport)
62 Marcel Tuček, Petr Dufek (CZE, Subaru Impreza STi, Klub Fox Racing Team in AČR)
85 Dai-Wei Yein, Steve Chou (TWN, Subaru Impreza STi, Dai-Wei Yein)
87 Václav Lichovník, Jiří Černoch (CZE, Renault Clio Sport, Václav Lichovník)
88 Roman Martinec, Josef Píža (CZE, Honda Civic Type R, Roman Martinec)
92 Jaromír Tomaštík (CZE, Subaru Impreza WRC, JT Rocksteel Rally Team)
96 Silvestr Mikuláštík (CZE, Škoda Octavia WRC, Walašský rally klub in AČR)
101 Zbyněk Baller (CZE, Citroën C2 R2 Max, Zbyněk Baller)
102 Georgij Geradžijev, Georgij Gadžev (BGR, Ford Fiesta R2, ASC Plovdiv)
118 Vlastimil Hodaň, František Poláček (CZE, Škoda Felicia Kit Car, Vlastimil Hodaň)
134 Ondřej Studénka, Michaela Bublová (CZE, Renault Twingo R1, SAS Brno)