Articles

Italian Andrea Mabellini won the city special stage with a track record

16. 8. 2025 - Roman Ordelt

The 54th BARUM CZECH RALLY ZLÍN 2025 traditionally started with the spectator-friendly Super Special Stage in the streets of the regional capital Zlín. On the 9.57 km long track, the fastest time of 7:01.8 min was set by Italian driver Andrea Mabellini, with the co-driver Virginia Lenzi. The next places were taken by Czech crews, with the Agrotec Škoda Rally Team duo of Jan Kopecký and Jiří Hovorka, followed by Adam Březík and co-driver Ondřej Krajč from Samohýl Škoda Team in third place, losing by 2.9 seconds. All the best drivers were in Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 cars.

In addition to Kopecký and Březík, Dominik Stříteský (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) finished fourth and Filip Mareš (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2), the leader of the Czech championship, finished eighth, while Ján Kundlák (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) surprisingly finished tenth. European championship leader Miko Marczyk, also in a Fabia, set the fifth fastest time, and Austrian Simon Wagner (Hyundai i20 N Rally2) was sixth. Other foreign drivers in the top ten included Simone Tempestini from Romania and young talent Mille Johansson from Sweden (both Škoda Fabia RS Rally2).

Poland's Adrian Rzeznik (Ford Fiesta Rally3) leads the ERC3 category with a 4.8-second lead over his compatriot Hubert Kowalczyk (Renault Clio Rally3). In the ERC4 (J) category and among two-wheel-drive cars, Estonian driver Jaspar Vehar (Lancia Ypsilon HF Rally4) was the fastest, with Calle Carlsberg (Opel Corsa Rally4) finishing second, 3.0 seconds behind, in the junior championship standings. A total of 116 crews from 19 countries took part in this year's Barum rally, with 61 competitors competing in the European Rally Championship series.

Standings after the first special stage (Super SS Zlín, length 9.57 km)
1. Mabellini, Lenziová (ITA, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) 7:01,8 min
2. Kopecký, Hovorka (CZE, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 2,5 s
3. A. Březík, Krajča (CZE, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 2,9 s
4. Stříteský, Kučera (CZE, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 3,7 s
5. Marczyk, Gospodarczyk (POL, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 3,9 s
6. S. Wagner, Ostlenderová (AUT/DEU, Hyundai i20 N Rally2) + 4,1 s
7. Tempestini, Itu (ROU, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 7,3 s
8. Mareš, Bucha (CZE, Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) + 7,4 s
9. Johansson, Gronvall (SWE, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 8,5 s
10. Kundlák, Baran (CZE/SVK, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 8,9 s

29. Rzeznik, Kozdron (POL, Ford Fiesta Rally3), 1. místo ERC3 + 33,6 s
34. Vaher, Pruul (EST, Lancia Ypsilon HF Rally4), 1. místo ERC4 (J),2WD + 44,7 s

For more information, visit www.czechrally.com and don't forget to follow Barum rally on the official Facebook, Instagram and X accounts, and in other press releases.