Barum Czech Rally Zlín 

Star Rally: 80 Historic Cars at the Start

3. 8. 2025 - Jakub Hofbauer

This year, the STAR RALLY HISTORIC, a historic car rally which is part of the accompanying programme of the Barum Czech Rally Zlín, will be celebrating its seventeenth edition. It began its tradition as a one-day demonstration drive, which was not timed, but gradually developed into an event included in the Czech National Historic Car Rally Championship. What's more, for several years now, spectators can look forward to the historic car crews on Sundays too. This year will be no different.

The list of registered participants includes a total of 83 crews from 6 countries - the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Poland and Germany. A big novelty in the world of historic rallies is the permission of cars manufactured up to 2000 from this year. This includes, for example, the first WRC cars or most kit cars, however, as expected, this new category will begin to be filled to a greater extent gradually in the following years. This year, only two drivers will use this opportunity, coincidentally both with Peugeot cars. In the demonstration run, it will be Hungarian Balász Kolencsik with a Peugeot 106 Maxi, in the main competition part Martin Klepáč with a larger and more powerful two-liter 306 Maxi. As in previous years, the fastest drivers can be found in the category of cars from the first half of the 1990s.

This time, the Star Rally will miss the four-time winner and potential defender of last year's triumph Jaroslav Vančík, who cannot participate due to health reasons. However, his BMW M3 will not be missing on the track, another domestic driver Pavel Jánský will compete with it. And the entire trefoil of domestic M3s will be presented, with the winner of the 2023 edition Jiří Hanák and Martin Černý registered. However, crews in turbocharged 4wd cars will also fight for the highest places. The regulars in the Star Rally starting field are Vlastimil Neumann with a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III and Libor Kotrmon with a Ford Escort RS Cosworth. Pavel Omelka will also start with an identical Ford. Jan Schmied will present a newly built Ford Sierra RS Cosworth, while Petr Pavlát will show off his proven Toyota Celica ST165. Lovers of even older cars will also play their part. In addition to a multitude of Skodas of various ages and types, classic cars such as the Opel Ascona A of Karel Jirátek and Josef Kakrda, the BMW 2002 TI of Josef Kabourek or the Ford Escort RS 1600 of Jindřich Štolfa will also be on the track.

Fans can also look fotward to the Rally Legend demonstration drive, where exactly 50 cars are registered. It is not a competition with measured time, so the drivers have space for a spectator-attractive drive full of drifting. This year, the popular Spišák brothers will be present with their blue Lada VFTS, which will certainly be joined in their efforts by a large group of other pilots from Slovakia and Hungary with Ladas of various specifications. However, there will also be no shortage of classic legendary machines - Bronislav Tatýrek and Ladislav Vyoral will drive the Audi Quattro A2, and Jiří Záruba will take on the Lancia Delta HF Integrale. Interestingly, he drove this car on Czech tracks already in the early 1990s. But less common cars will also be present. Mário Krajči is already familiar with the Zlín tracks with his Porsche 924 Turbo, as is Aleš Máčala with his Mercedes 500 SLC. The oldest cars in the starting field will be Miroslav Julínek's Škoda Octavia TS and Michal Pavlík's Saab 96.

This year, the Star Rally Historic will offer a total of 151 competition kilometers divided into 11 special stages. After Friday's city super special stage, the historic cars will appear twice at the Březová and Halenkovice stages, while they will complete the challenging Bunč with its long gravel section only once. On Sunday – without the Rally Legend demonstration group of cars – the starting field of the historic cars will appear twice at Kateřinice and in one run also at Pindula and Podhoran. The finish is scheduled for Sunday at 2 p.m.

For more information, visit www.czechrally.com and don't forget to follow Barum Czech Rally Zlín on social networks, official Facebook, Instagram, Twitter profiles and in other press releases.