Barum Czech Rally Zlín 

The 48th Barum Czech Rally Zlín again under the FIA ERC flag

11. 12. 2017 - Jakub Hofbauer

The biggest automobile rally in the Czech Republic, the Barum Czech Rally Zlín, will in 2018 celebrate its 35th anniversary of relationship with the FIA European Rally Championship. This event has belonged to long-term cornerstones of this series and in the upcoming 8-round calendar it will be run in its traditional date at the end of summer holidays – from 24 to 26 August 2018.

The 48th edition of the Barum Czech Rally Zlín will follow the well-proved schedule from previous years. Friday morning will belong to the Qualifying stage, the afternoon action will move to the centre of Zlín city with the ceremonial start and later on with the Super special stage in the city streets. Saturday and Sunday will as usual offer demanding and tricky stages around the whole Zlín region. "We want to offer to the crews as attractive stages as possible and to the spectators interesting spots for watching the race. Therefore we for example analyze reactions to the last version of the special stage Pindula. We would also like to renew some sections, which weren't used for the stages for some time," says Mr. Miloslav Regner, the Clerk of the Course. "We already have a layout of this year's route and we negotiate with all affected villages and people. I strongly believe that this year we will not face some unexpected events like the African swine flu in 2017 and the route will be run in its full scheduled length."

The Barum rally will beside the main ERC competition host also the European junior championship which year by year growths in its prestige and reputation. Just like in 2017 there are announced two categories U27 and U28 and what's more, all current ERCJ events will host an education Junior academy course for young rally drivers. Zlín will host also the Czech Rally Championship as well as the Star Rally Historic, which currently enters the second decade of its existence. "Barum rally visitors can again look forward to many additional events and rich program. In 2017 we for example offered experience rides in Škoda Fabia S2000 with Sepp Wiegand behind the wheel and the reaction was simply great. We also arrange some new attractions for the Super special stage in Zlín," adds Ing. Jan Regner, the deputy CoC.