Now established as a bustling university city, Zlín provides the setting for round seven of the FIA European Rally Championship. It lies 300 kilometres from Czech capital Prague and 220 kilometres from Austrian capital Vienna.
Administrative checks and scrutineering take place on Thursday with event sponsor Continental Barum’s factory and distribution centre in nearby Otrokovice hosting the rally’s permanent service park.
The action kicks off on Friday morning with Free Practice at Žlutava. The first car starts at 0730hrs before the all-important Qualifying Stage gets underway from 0910hrs. Start order selection takes place on Friday afternoon in the city square, which hosts the ceremonial start festivities from 1600hrs.
After that, crews have a few hours to relax before the curtain-raising Zlín Super Special test. Cars will be reverse-seeded, with the first ERC crews expected to start the stage around 2200hrs.
Saturday’s opening leg features three challenging speed tests which venture east of the rally base. Each runs twice, with the two loops punctuated by a 30-minute service halt.
It starts with the semi-circuit Březová (12.73km) which precedes Držková - the longest stage of the rally at 24.32km. Semetín (11.51km) rounds out both loops to bring a frenetic day to a close.
Sunday’s finale follows a similar pattern, with two loops of three tests totalling 95.88km. Up first are Bunč (15.20km) and Maják (13.20km), followed by a run through Pindula (19.54km) - a true Czech classic.
The second passage of Pindula forms the bonus points-paying Power Stage where extra points are up for grabs for those with the fastest times.
The 13 stages add up to 202.57km in a total route of 624.23km.
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