Barum Czech Rally Zlín 

The king returns to the throne after a year, Kopecký takes his twelfth victory!

17. 8. 2025 - David Štícha, Roman Ordelt

It was just a one-year break, a small anomaly. Otherwise, everything is as it was. The 54th BARUM CZECH RALLY ZLÍN 2025 was ruled by the Czech crew of the Agrotec Škoda Rally Team, Jan Kopecký and Jiří Hovorka, in a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, beating the Irish crew of the M-Sport Ford Rally Team, Jon Armstrong and Shane Byrne, in a Ford Fiesta Rally2 MKII, by 10.7 seconds. Kopecký thus continues his winning streak from previous years, with a series of eight victories in a row between 2015 and 2023. Third place went to the Italian mixed duo Andrea Mabellini and Virginia Lenzi, all driving Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 cars.

A total of 116 crews from 19 countries passed the technical acceptance. In front of tens of thousands of fans, Italian Mabellini was the fastest in the Super Special Stage, completing the 9.57-kilometer section in a track record time of 7:01.8 minutes. Jan Kopecký finished second, 2.5 seconds behind. While the night super special stage was a warm-up lap, Saturday morning's stage significantly shook up the ambitious leaders of the competition. Jan Kopecký and Erik Cais dominated SS2 Březová with the same time. However, the stage, which ran around the Slušovice racecourse, among other places, proved to be the end of the road for Hungary's Miklós Csomós, who crashed into a tree, while punctures then knocked Britain's Chris Ingram and Romania's Simon Tempestini out of contention for the top positions, all in Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 cars.

The next special stage in Halenkovice again belonged to the Kopecký/Hovorka crew, but the main incident was a mistake by reigning champion Dominik Stříteský, who drove his car off the track onto the curb. The result was fatal: three punctures and the end of the first stage. In the next stage, Bunč, Irish driver Jon Armstrong was first, making his presence known for the first time. Kopecký finished sixth, 8.7 seconds behind. From the start, multiple Czech champion Václav Pech struggled to keep up the pace, finishing outside the top ten in his Citroën C3 Rally2. Another dramatic turn of events came on the second run through Bunč, which was once again dominated by Armstrong. Caise, Wagner, and Ingram were all affected by punctures. After Saturday's stage, Jan Kopecký spent the night in the lead with a 6.5-second advantage over Armstrong and 13 seconds over Mabellini.

Sunday's Leg 2 was relatively uneventful. Jan Kopecký, who took the lead just after the start on Saturday morning, maintained his position with a confident drive and even slightly increased his lead. In the end, he stayed in the lead, starting and finishing in style. The battle was more for second place among the foreign drivers, Armstrong and Mabellini, and for fifth place among the Czechs, Mareš and Cais. Despite winning the Power Stage, Italian Mabellini ultimately failed in his attempt to overtake his Irish rival and finished third, 3.1 seconds behind Armstrong. Austrian Wagner finished fourth and Erik Cais fifth, thanks in part to an excellent second pass through the legendary Pindula stage, where he triumphed with a lead of more than seven seconds over Mareš in ninth place. Local driver Adam Březík finished eighth. Dominik Stříteský, who started in the Superally on Sunday, ended his run of bad luck at Barum rally with a crash on the final stage in Kateřinice.

The ERC3 category was dominated by Poland's Hubert Kowalczyk in a Renault Clio Rally3, who won with a comfortable lead over Ireland's Case Coleman in a Ford Fiesta Rally3 by 43.8 seconds. Third place went to the home crew of Daniel Polášek and Zdeněk Omelka in a Ford Fiesta Rally3. The best driver in the ERC4 (J) category was Craig Rahill from Ireland (Lancia Ypsilon Rally4 HF), who finished 35.9 seconds ahead of Norway's Karl Peder Nordstrand (Opel Corsa Rally4) in second place. In the Master ERC classification, Czech driver Martin Vlček won by more than five minutes in a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2.

Final standings of the 54th Barum Czech Rally Zlín 2025:
1. Kopecký, Hovorka (CZE, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) 2:00,49.3 hod
2. Armstrong, Byrne (IRL, Ford Fiesta MkII Rally2) + 10,7 s
3. Mabellini, Lenzi (ITA, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 13,8 s
4. Wagner, Ostlender (AUT/DEU, Hyundai i20 N Rally2) + 30,3 s
5. Cais, Trunkát (CZE, Hyundai i20 N Rally2) + 59,3 s
6. Mareš, Bucha (CZE, Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) + 1:04,1 min
7. Marczyk, Gospodarczyk (POL, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 1:08,0 min
8. A. Březík, Krajča (CZE, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 1:23,8 min
9. Matulka, Syty (POL, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 2:29,7 min
10. Johansson, Grönvall (SWE, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 4:41.0 min

19. Kowalczyk, Hryniuk (POL, Renault Clio Rally3), 1. place ERC3 + 11:47.3 min
23. Rahill, Smith (IRL, Lancia Ypsilon Rally4 HF), 1. place ERC4 (J) + 13:16.3 min

Won SS:
6 – Kopecký, 3 – Cais, Mabellini, 2 – Armstrong. Note: SS2 won with identical times by Cais and Kopecký.

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