The start of Barum Czech Rally Zlín is just a few days away from starting, how much hard work has there been to organise the event and how many people have helped to make it happen?
“The rally is being prepared over the whole year, but of course as the rally gets closer, the number of people involved grows up. In total there are nearly 2400 people who are in various roles linked to the rally. I must thank to all of them for their effort to make the event happen.”
What have been the biggest challenges you’ve had to overcome in terms of organising the 53rd edition of the event?
“Every year the organisation consists of securing the overall budget as well as people for the rally organisation. There have been many meetings with local people and authorities, but luckily our long-term cooperation with them is working good. In the recent weeks we have been facing difficulties with construction works on public roads in the region which slightly affected the rally, but except for shortening one of the Sunday stages it almost did not touch either the rally route or the itinerary.”
As always you’ve not stood still and have made several changes to the route of this year’s event. What are some of the highlights of the 2024 itinerary?
“Last year we re-established the special stage Kateřinice as well as one old section of the Pindula stage. Both of these stages were renewed after almost 30 years. This year the special stage Bunč will be definitely the highlight of the rally route. It starts on a narrow forest road known from previous years, but then turns to a completely new section on smooth gravel. This from-corner-to-corner part has about four kilometres in length and it’s something! Another brand-new section, now back on Tarmac, continues from Bunč crossing down to the valley above Salaš village. This part was used at the Barum Rally back in 1974, but that time only as a road section. Competition cars at full speed will run this road for the very first time. So this stage will definitely be a challenger and maybe also a decider.”
Jan Kopecký has dominated the event in recent years but how realistic are the prospects of a different winner and who will be the main contenders in your view?
“Jan Kopecký at the Barum Rally is a phenomenon, despite how the competition was strong in previous years, he always managed to cope with them. He was sovereign also in the Czech championship for many years, but this season we can see that young guns like Dominik Stříteský or Adam Březík have fully matched Kopecký’s pace, and they didn’t allow him to win a single race so far. But we will see, Barum Rally is a long and demanding race and Kopecký surely knows how to use his rich experience with our stages.”
For fans visiting Barum Czech Rally Zlín for the first time, what can they expect and what is the one thing they must do before they leave?
“We are very pleased for each and every visitor who comes to the Barum Rally and the Zlín region. People can as always look forward to a unique atmosphere not only at the city stage in Zlín, but along the whole route. The competition will be strong and attractive to watch in many classes of the starting field as well as in the additional race of historic cars. We are still in the hot summer, so there will be also many beautiful people, typical Czech beer needs no further description and people definitely should not miss the rally afterparty on Sunday evening! So, in short, Barum Czech Rally Zlín brings a lot of joy!”
Barum Czech Rally Zlín takes place from 16 -18 August and is broadcast live on the Rally.tv platform. More event information is available HERE.
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