Barum Czech Rally Zlín 

Zlín will welcome the European championship's top

5. 8. 2024 - Roman Ordelt

Seven best drivers from the top ten of the European Championship standings are on the list of registered crews for the 53rd BARUM CZECH RALLY ZLÍN 2024.The Zlín organisers have registered a total of 106 crews from 19 countries, of which 24 drivers will drive with ERC1 priority. The competition starts in front of the Zlín City Hall on Friday, 16 August at 4 p.m. The crews will have to tackle an 867 km long course, which includes 15 special stages on eight sections with a total length of 194 km.

At the start will appear the complete top of the European and Czech championship - eleven-time champion and winner of the last eight seasons of the Zlín rally Jan Kopecký (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2), reigning European champion and ERC standings leader Hayden Paddon from New Zealand (Hyundai i20 N Rally2) or the surprise of this season Mathieu Franceschi from France (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2). Also Mads Ostberg from Norway (Citroën C3 Rally2), last year's European champion Efrén Llarena from Spain, Simon Wagner from Austria or Romanian Simone Tempestini (all Škoda Fabia RS Rally2).

A total of 64 crews compete in the international field, with 38 competitors (ERC priorities) running their sixth round of the 8-part European Rally Championship (ERC) series. In addition to Kopecký, young drivers from the Zlín region, Dominik Stříteský, the leader of the domestic championship, Adam Březík and Erik Cais, all driving Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 cars, will be among the Czech drivers. Václav Pech, multiple Czech champion and two-time winner of the Barum rally, has prepared a big surprise for his fans and will be driving a Škoda Fabia R5 instead of a WRC specification car!

Other front runners are Miko Marczyk from Poland, Andrea Mabellini from Italy, Hermann Neubauer from Austria, Martin László from Hungary (all Škoda Fabia RS Rally2), Jon Armstrong from Ireland (Ford Fiesta Rally2), Amaury Molle from Belgium (Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) or Czech representatives Martin Vlček (Hyundai i20 N Rally2), Jakub Jirovec (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2), Aleš Jirásek (Škoda Fabia R5), Věroslav Cvrček Jr. (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) and more.

In ERC3 category, we can find a total of seven crews on the entry list, with Czech driver Filip Kohn leading the standings so far. His chasers in Zlín will be Turkey's Kerem Kazaz, Poland's Igor Widlak and Croatia's Martin Ravenščak. The excellent Slovak driver Róbert Kolčák (all Ford Fiesta Rally3) and the very fast Hubert Kowalczyk from Poland (Renault Clio Rally3) will also compete with the European top drivers. Twenty-one-year-old Kohn, together with British co-driver Tom Woodburn, can confirm his dominance in the Fiesta Rally3 Trophy just in Zlín, while leading the standings by 20 points.

Barum rally is not part of the junior championship this year, however, six crews will take part in ERC4 category. Among the front runners there are Max McRae from Great Britain, Zlín Rally ambassador Daniel Polášek, and Hungarians Patrik Herczig and Márton Bartalan. It will be interesting to see the Czech drivers compete in the 2WD standings. Especially the overall winner of the European Rally Trophy and the leader of the 2WD standings in the Czech championship, René Dohnal (all Peugeot 208 Rally4) is aiming very high. A fight for the top positions will also involve Ján Kundlák, Jan Talaš, Jakub Talaš (all Opel Corsa Rally4), Kryštof Zpěvák (Citroën C2 S1600), Jiří Gerych (Ford Fiesta Rally4) and Miroslav Číž (Peugeot 208 R2) competing in the national field. It will be interesting to see how other foreign drivers such as Csaba Viszló from Hungary (Peugeot 208 Rally4) or Lander Dhaene from Belgium (Opel Corsa Rally4) will compete in the strong competition of 2WDs.

EC standings after 5 competitions:
1. Hayden Paddon (NZL) 89
2. Mathieu Franceschi (FRA) 82
3. Simone Tempestini (ROU) 59
4. Mads Ostberg (NOR) 53
5. Miko Marczyk (POL) 45
6. Andrea Mabellini (ITA) 44
7. Jon Armstrong (GBR) 42
8. Oliver Solberg (SWE) 35
9. Georg Linnamäe (EST) 35
10. Andrea Crugnola (ITA) 35

22. Erik Cais (CZE) 19
27. Filip Mareš (CZE) 12

ERC3
1. Filip Kohn (CZE) 107
2. Kerem Kazaz (TUR) 104
3. Igor Widlak (POL) 88
4. Martin Ravenščak (HRV) 68
5. Romet Jürgensson (EST) 30

ERC4
1. Mille Johansson (SWE) 100
2. Calle Carlberg (SWE) 72
3. Max McRae (AUS) 62
4. Timo Schulz (DEU) 55
5. Daniel Polášek (CZE) 54

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.

Zlín, 5th August 2024

Roman ORDELT
Press Relations Officer
Barum Czech Rally Zlín