Barum Czech Rally Zlín to follow well-established concept

RSL Staff

– July 27, 2012Posted in: ERC, IRC, News

The peak of the rally season in the Czech Republic is approaching. In only six weeks the 42^nd Barum Czech Rally Zlín will start – from 31August till 2 September 2012. It will be part of the FIA European Rally Championship (ERC), Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) and Mediasport International Rally Championship of the Czech Republic (MMCR). A high quality starting field is expected lead by the Škoda Motorsport factory crews.

“Also this year the Rally Germany is scheduled before Barum Rally. Originally we asked for those dates but FIA assigns dates first for the World Rally Championship and then the European championship. That’s why Barum Rally will be held at the end of August and beginning of September,“ said Miloslav Regner, clerk of the course of Barum Czech Rally Zlín. The Municipal Council of the City of Zlín is an important co-organizer of the rally. On Friday afternoon, the ceremonial start will be held in front of the Zlín town hall. “The City of Zlín is a proud partner of this event, which is the most important rally in the Czech Republic. Of course, we are happy that such an event is held in Zlín and the Zlín region. We appreciate the work and efforts of the organizers which I would like to thank. We all know that it is not easy at all to organize such an event. We will do our best that this world-renowned rally is part of Zlín in the following years,“ expressed his support Ondřej Běták, deputy chief magistrate.

The crews will start coming to the centre of the rally at the end of August. On Wednesday 29 August and Thursday 30 August, the reconnaissance for Sunday and Saturday legs respectively the will be held. ”This schedule was chosen also due to Star Rally so that the crews with historic cars only participating in the Saturday leg do not have to come to Zlín one day earlier. I hope the reconnaissance will be as peaceful as the last year,“ said Miloslav Regner. On Thursday evening, the scrutineering will be held. “We will seal the rally cars and install GPS units in them. The scrutineering will be held in the Zlín sports hall from 7:30 until midnight,“ said the clerk of the course. Around Thursday midnight, the crews will go through reconnaissance of the Super Special Stage.

On Friday, 31 August from 08:00 until 13:00, the shakedown will be held on the route from Pohořelice to Komárov. At the beginning of the shakedown a popular spectator zone is located on the square in Pohořelice. In the afternoon the accompanying program will be held on the Zlín square in front of the town hall along with the scrutineering of the Star Rally Historic cars.

The Star Rally will be part of Barum Rally also this year. The fans can look forward to cars from the 1920’s and 1930’s. This year there will be a new memory ride “Zlínská osma” which will include racing cars from the 1950’s. Shortly before 21:15 the Super Special Stage in the streets of Zlín will start. It will finish around 23:00.

The rally itself will start on Saturday, 1 September. In the morning the SS Slušovice and SS Pindula will be held twice, in the afternoon the SS Lukov and SS Tesák will also be held twice. “This is because on Saturday the live broadcasts on Eurosport will start. The broadcasting times have been strictly set and we had to adjust the schedule to that,“ explained Regner and added: “We hope that Barum Rally will engage a lot of viewers who will watch from their homes but we also believe that many fans will come straight to the route and create great atmosphere.“ The live broadcasting on Eurosport is the reason why SS Slušovice will be held as a semi-circuit stage, which will be very attractive for the spectators. The crews will go around the Slušovice race course and the former AB Bank twice, then the route will turn through an up-rise from Nové Dvory to Březová, then through Hvozdná and to the finish through Veselá.

On Sunday, 2 September, the SS Halenkovice, SS Kudlovice and SS Maják will be held. Both passages through SS Maják will be broadcast live on Eurosport. The second passage through SS Maják will be the last stage of the whole rally so the viewers will watch the final battle live. This stage will be held in reverse direction compared to the last year. The finish will be located near the finish of the whole rally in Kudlov district. The stop site will be located at the bus turntable where the start was located last year as there is enough room for the wireless trucks. As the service area in Otrokovice is too far the organizers have agreed with the Zlín-Otrokovice Transport Company that the racing cars can be washed there. “The final service would cause big delay with this year’s route concept and therefore, we decided to leave it out. We have, however, arranged at least a washing area so that the cars come clean to the ceremonial finish. But who knows, if the weather is nice, it may not be necessary,“ concluded Miloslav Regner. The award ceremony and announcement of the results will be held on the finish ramp in front of the Big Cinema in Zlín at 14:30.

Source: www.rally-erc.com