Barum Rally: A challenge promised to the locals

The Barum Rally is one of the historic events of theERC. It first appeared on the calendar in 1984. Just look at the list of winners of this round to see its uniqueness. The last foreigner to win in Zlin was Juho Hänninen, who won in 2012. Since then, the Czechs, and especially Jan Kopecky (9 wins), have ruled the roost. To everyone's surprise, Dominik Stritesky won last year and will defend his trophy, but he will be up against a strong contingent of compatriots. Martin Vlcek (Fabia), Filip Mares (Yaris), Erik Cais (i20), Adam Brezik (Fabia), and Vaclav Pech (C3) will all be looking to triumph in front of their home crowd. Kopecky (Fabia) will also be trying to add another line to his immense list of achievements. In the local competition, Barum represents the penultimate of the 6 events on the calendar. There is currently a one-point gap in favor of Mares, who would like to send the experienced Kopecky (43 years old and already 10 titles) into retirement. While the locals will be squabbling for national honor, others will have different ambitions on special stages that have the particularity of taking place on often damaged tarmac that offers no grip. Despite a road surface dotted with bumps, these stages are extremely fast and accidents are always numerous.

The battle for the ERC title

After 6 rounds, there are not many who can still claim the title. The best placed is Mikolaj Marczyk. The Pole in the Skoda Fabia has a 22-point lead over Andrea Mabellini (Fabia). The Italian enjoys tarmac events, but he will have to be solid to catch Marczyk. Their duel will be refereed by the Czechs mentioned above, but also by Mads Ostberg (C3). The Norwegian has a lot of experience in this event, but he will have to find the right rhythm immediately or risk starting to worry. The Viking is, however, 31 points behind and tarmac is not really his preferred surface. In the absence of Roope Korhonen (Toyota) and Isak Reiersen (Fabia) (respectively 4^e and 5^e of the ERC), Jon Armstrong (Fiesta) could pull off a strong performance if he manages to stay on the road in this event where the weather can always be unpredictable. Among the 38 Rally2 participants, it should be noted that there are no French drivers or navigators. Stéphane Lefebvre (Yaris) was in the initial list, but he will ultimately be absent. Boys like Phillip Allen (Fabia), Simon Wagner (Fabia) who had taken 2^e place last year, Mille Johansson (Fabia) or Simone Tempestini (Fabia) can come and play spoilsport. In the absence of Tristan Charpentier (Fiesta), the Poles Tymoteusz Abramowski (Fiesta), Hubert Kowalczyk (Clio) and Blazej Gazda (Clio) will have the field clear in ERC3. Finally, in the Junior ERC championship, Calle Carlberg (Corsa) will seek to continue his series of 3 consecutive successes while the Barum is the penultimate meeting of this competition.

Competitors will have 12 special stages to cover, representing 207,49 km of timed stages.

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