Barum Czech Rally Zlín 

Star Rally Historic and the story of Lancia

10. 8. 2025 - Jakub Hofbauer

This year's STAR RALLY HISTORIC will offer a rather unique car as part of the exhibition drive. It is a white Lancia Delta HF Integrale, which will be driven by Jiří Záruba with the starting number 51 on the door. The square Deltas are generally iconic cars, as they made a huge mark on the history of rallying at the world level in the late 80s and early 90s. This particular car has an interesting history as well with a close connection to the Zlín region. It is the very one which was driven by Jiří Sedlář.

Deltas first settled on world tracks in the form of the kevlar monster type S4, but after the ban on Group B in 1986, they also went on the road in more civilian versions based on series production. And in several evolutionary stages and with a number of modifications within Group A, they excelled so much that the Italian car manufacturer managed to win the manufacturers' title six times in a row between 1987 and 1992 without a single break!

Jiří Sedlář was also tempted by the early successes of the turbocharged 4wd. In the eighties he was among the very top of domestic rally scene in the colors of Podhoran Lukov. After several seasons spent in the Škoda 130 LR and the ban on Group B, Sedlář was looking for a new path and it was Lancia that finally settled in the Lukov workshops. The issue was, however, that it was a Group N car, and while the "A" deltas with sufficient modifications were durable and reliable, the production version could hardly withstand the conditions of competitive racing. The Lukov driver won the first event of the 1988 season, when the delta was still running and in the condition of a new car. It soon became clear that one swallow does not make a spring, and one failure after another began to accumulate on his account. Keeping the undersized serial chassis parts, brakes and a sufficient supply of tires in shape would have required an unprecedented amount of effort and money from the team, and after many successful seasons, the 1988 season ended in great disappointment for Sedlář and ultimately in his departure from the team.

The Delta in Lukov itself lasted a year longer, driven on Czechoslovak tracks by Lubomír Březík. It also received its first modifications for Group A. In 1990, Petr Zedník from Kroměříž appeared behind the wheel, racing it until the end of 1991, when the former Sedlář's Delta was already wearing the colors of the Púchov rubber works. It was also the last winning car of the Valašská zima Rally, whose history ended in 1990. Before the 1993 season, the car was bought by ASK Moravský Krumlov, under whose badge Jiří Záruba drove it for two seasons together with his brother Petr. However, at the end of 1994, the team sold the Lancia, and its trace was lost for almost two decades.

"Sometime in 2013 or 2014, I came across a skeleton, that was in very poor condition which I identified as original by the VIN," says Jiří Záruba. "We started the renovation from the original parts that we had left, as well as from newly purchased ones, and we also bought another entire Delta 4WD for spare parts. The vehicle has the original parts: the skeleton, the engine block, and at home we also had an aluminum passenger floor, a passenger panel instead of a glove box with indicator lights and a Halda tripmaster, a turbo pressure alarm made from a tire gauge, helmet holders for the frame and red anatomical seats. We bought these with the car, but we had to replace them with new ones according to the regulations at the time. The vehicle complies with the period homologation A-5355. I decided not to build the Delta in Group N, as Jiří Sedlář drove it, mainly for financial reasons, due to the price of the interior and other "N" parts," describes Jiří Záruba the return of his car back to life.

The car with a complicated history has thus been given a second wind, the renovated Delta will be shown in action for the first time on the city super special stage in Zlín. It will be also comeback to the special stages for Jiří Záruba after 31 years. He last competed an the Horácká Rally in the fall of 1994.

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