The fifth edition of Online Barum Czech Rally Zlín is on its way!

Articles

19. 7. 2025 - Jakub Hofbauer

For the fifth time, the Barum Czech Rally Zlín accompanying program will also feature its virtual version, set in the legendary PC game Richard Burns Rally. The upcoming edition, which will be held at the turn of July and August, will again bring several new features. Especially the premiere of the Bunč 2025 stage will be unique, as the virtual competitors will have a chance to drive it earlier than the real ones during the Barum Rally in mid-August.

The history of the virtual Barum Rally began in the Covid year 2020, when real races were largely canceled and the virtual environment became a welcome refuge for many racing drivers. The first three years were held as a single-section event as part of the official Czech Online Rally Championship. After a one-year break, the online Barum Rally returned last year and was held for the first time as a free event, which gave the organizers the opportunity to extend the race's mileage and divide it into two sections. A similar concept will be used this year, and what's more, thanks to the constant development of the game and new tracks, the length of this year's virtual Barum Rally will be extended by another 50 kilometers.

This was mainly achieved by the efforts of the Napa RBR Cup group, which during its existence took care of creating about 20 special stages from the domestic environment for the Richard Burns Rally game. After last year's Barum Rally, the creators set about the challenging Bunč special stage, which was the pearl of the last Barum Rally thanks to its character and long gravel passage. When the track was already finished and it was clear that this year's Bunč would be run in reverse during the real race, the proposal came to create its current version in the game. This was completed during June and will therefore also be included in the schedule of the fifth virtual Barum Rally. It remains to be seen whether the opportunity to drive the track in advance, at least on a simulator, will tempt some of the drivers of the real Barum Czech Rally Zlín to the virtual start!

The eighteen-kilometer long Bunč stage will therefore dominate Saturday's section, which will be opened by the city special stage in Zlín. The opening section will also include a slightly shorter Halenkovice stage (13 km), supplemented by the well-known Komárov and Biskupice stages. The virtual version will also partially follow the route of the real Barum Rally in the second section, when stages from the northeastern part of the Zlín region will be driven. The second part will begin with the almost eight-kilometer Kameňák test, which in reality will be part of the new Podhoran SS this year. The second stage will also offer the fast Barák test, the demanding Semetín, and the final will be provided by classic tracks around Zádveřice. All stages, except for the Zlín special stage, will be driven twice, their total length is exactly 183 kilometers, and the entire competition should take place in dry conditions compared to last year.

It will be interesting to see how this year's Online Barum Czech Rally Zlín will develop in terms of results. A week before the deadline, the organizers have already registered a hundred drivers, with last year's winner Štěpán Paulát being the very first to register and thus defending his previous triumph. However, Dennis Zeťák from Slovakia, who dominated the first two years of the online Barum rally and was only 0,7 second away from his hat-trick last year, is also preparing to start. The winner from 2023 and last year's second man in the overall classification, Tomáš Buriánek, should also be present. Whether anyone else will disrupt the current hegemony of these three pilots will be revealed between July 28 and August 3, 2025.

Online Barum Czech Rally Zlín official website:
http://bit.ly/44BP1Ve

The competition page and results at RBR Czech:
http://bit.ly/4m1TqGN

Previous winners:
2020 Dennis Zeťák (SVK), Citroën C3 R5
2021 Dennis Zeťák (SVK), Ford Fiesta Rally2
2022 Tomáš Buriánek (CZE), Škoda Fabia WRC
2024 Štěpán Paulát (CZE), Ford Fiesta Rally2

Vyhlášení / Prize giving, 4. BCRZ Online 2024 (foto: rallyservice.cz)