The highlight of this season is here – the Barum Czech Rally starts this Friday in the vicinity of Zlín and will attract thousands of enthusiastic motorsport fans until Sunday. The complete Skoda Motorsport team (Kopecký/Dresler and Hänninen/Markkula) will be at the start, and the defending IRC champion Andreas Mikkelsen with co-driver Ola Floen will be presented with the factory car.
The traditional Barumka is part of all three championships in which Skoda Fabia Super 2000 drivers are striving for titles between brands and drivers this year – the Intercontinental Rally Challenge ( IRC ), the European Championship ( ERC ) and the International Championship of the Czech Republic ( MMČR ). Skoda currently holds the leading position in all championships. Among the main favorites of the Barum Rally is undoubtedly the two-time winner and the defender of last year's championship, Jan Kopecký , for whom the domestic competition is a matter of his heart. Juho Hänninen and Mikko Markkula want to take a decisive step towards winning the title of European champions in Zlín .
Skoda wants to gain more important points in the IRC manufacturer evaluation in Zlín . After almost two-thirds of the season, the Czech factory team is on its way to winning the third IC title in a row.
For the first time in its history, the Barum Rally is broadcast live by the Eurosport television station, and Barumka and special stages from the rally will also experience a similar premiere on the Czech sports channel ČT4 . The Slušovice RZ 2 and RZ 4 will be broadcast on Saturday (10:00-11:00 and 13:00-14:00) and on Sunday at the same times the Maják special stage -RZ12 and RZ15, which is also the last stage of the entire competition .
