Barum - IRC news before SS1

Thrilling IRC action about to start on the streets of Zlin

Barum Czech Rally Zlín, round nine of the all-action Intercontinental Rally Challenge, gets underway shortly with the exciting spectator stage through the streets of the event’s host city.

Crews tackle three laps of the SSS Zlín test – a total distance of 9.36 kilometres – in reverse order with Czech Olga Lounová the first driver away from the start in a Renault Clio at 21:12hrs local time.

Run under the cover of darkness, the stage isn’t to be taken for granted despite its relatively short distance and low average speed. It crosses over a railway line at one point and with part of the stage on cobbled streets, grip is at a premium, particularly following today’s rain. Competitors are released from the start in regular intervals, which means there will be as many as seven cars on the concrete wall-lined course at any one time.

“It’s the type of situation in which you can make a mistake very easily,” said Swiss Peugeot driver Florion Gonon. “We’re not going to push too hard, all the more so as I’ve never started a rally so late with a single stage on the first day. It’s new for me as is everything awaiting me in this event. Our aim is to find the right rhythm, not make any mistakes and see the finish.”

Gonon is due begin his bid for Zlín glory when he leaves the start line at 22:43hrs. Last year’s winner, Jan Kopecký, will the 97th driver to tackle the stage at 22:48hrs. His ŠKODA Motorsport team-mate Juho Hänninen is the final driver in action from 22:50hrs.

Suspension tweaks boost Hanninen for Zlin

IRC fight Juho Hänninen hopes that minor tweaks to the suspension of his ŠKODA Fabia Super 2000 will boost his chances when the Intercontinental Rally Challenge resumes with the opening stage of Barum Czech Rally Zlín this evening.

Hänninen, whose tally of 10 IRC wins is more than any other driver, is one of the leading lights on the all-asphalt event in south-east Czech Republic, where he is still chasing his first win.

“We had some suspension parts [my team-mate Jan] Kopecky has been using in the Czech championship which are working well and I’m confident with that,” said the Finn, IRC champion in 2010. “It gives more stability and let’s say it’s more easy and more smooth to drive the bumpy sections, which is very important over here. The Tarmac is not that smooth over here so for that side it’s better.”

Hänninen will run first on the road on Saturday’s eight stages, the first of which, Slušovice, gets underway at 10:10hrs local time and will be shown live on Eurosport and free-to-air Czech TV.

With rain expected, Hänninen isn’t expecting an easy ride, particularly with Kopecký and defending IRC champion Andreas Mikkelsen set to provide strong opposition in their Fabia Super 2000s.

“It has been raining every year so it’s nothing new,” he said. “Even when it’s dry the Tarmac is so slippery and when it’s raining it’s very difficult but it’s part of this rally, the weather changing very rapidly.

“Two years ago I thought I had no chance to win here and I was second and last year I thought I could win and I was third so I don’t know what I should do this year. I don’t make any special plans, I just try to get a good feeling and relax like I was doing in Ypres when I won.”

Ducher backs Gonon for Czech Republic top 10

Saintéloc Racing team manager Vincent Ducher has backed his driver Florian Gonon to hit back from his crash on the Geko Ypres Rally in June by finishing in the points on Barum Czech Rally Zlín.

The event, which will enjoy live coverage on Eurosport and free-to-air Czech TV, marks Gonon’s first start in the IRC since his accident on the opening stage in Belgium in late June.

“He has to start the rally carefully and to reach the finish in between five and 10 of the classification,” said Ducher. “But there are a lot of good drivers in Super 2000 car and the weather should not be so good tomorrow, maybe rain, so it will be difficult but he is a good driver and has done a small rally in France to prepare.”

Swiss ace, the IRC Production Cup runner-up in 2011, said: “After Ypres it was important to gain this additional experience. We’re tackling the Barum Rally without preliminary testing so it was a good idea to race in this rally [in Burgundy] and second overall was a good result.”

Ducher, meanwhile, has previous experience of working in Zlín having helped to run Roman Kresta’s Peugeot 206 WRC on the asphalt showcase in 2003.

Teenage ace Kruuda plans cautious start on IRC return

Karl Kruuda is planning a cautious start to Barum Czech Rally Zlín when he makes his return to Intercontinental Rally Challenge duty this weekend.

The 19-year-old from Estonia has only contested selected events outside of the IRC schedule in 2012 and admits his lack of recent experience of driving on asphalt will result in a low-key start in front of an estimated 200,000 fans in south-east Czech Republic.

“I’ve lost myself this year because I haven’t been driving on Tarmac apart from a few kilometres,” said the JM Racing ŠKODA Fabia Super 2000 driver. “I’m braking too early and my crash in Germany last week wasn’t ideal because it happened early in the rally and left me with a little bit of back ache and also a damaged car.

“I am going to take this rally to just find myself. I cannot push too much. We will see in the second day, maybe on Sunday I will be faster but for the start I will be cautious.”

Flodin back in action following shakedown delay

Patrik Flodin has played down the powersteering glitch that curtailed his shakedown for Barum Czech Rally Zlín slightly ahead of schedule earlier today.

Flodin has never before competed on the all-asphalt event, round nine of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, and, without a pre-event test, had planned to conduct as much running as possible over the practice stage this morning.

However, Flodin’s Petter Solberg Engineering technicians swiftly repaired the fault and the Swede will start the rally as planned tonight.

“It’s under control,” said Flodin, who earned the Colin McRae IRC Flat Out Trophy for finishing second overall on the Sibiu Rally in Romania last month. “We had some small problem with the powersteering leaking oil – that’s why we had to finish the shakedown a little bit earlier and tow the car back to the service.”

Mike Patterson, of Flodin’s principal backer Hankook, added: “It’s no major issue, just one of those things and lucky it happened a shakedown.”

On the subject of Flodin’s chances on the event, Patterson said: “I love this rally, our drivers have always gone well here, there’s a good atmosphere and a big public presence. It’s not an easy rally and the local guys are very, very quick. But Patrik adapted well to the Ypres Rally, which he did for the first time this year. We’d love it if he could be in the top six here but we’re not going to put him under any pressure, it’s his first year with us and his first in a Super 2000 car. He’s doing a good job.”

Stage knowledge won’t help if it rains, says Kresta

Three-time Barum Czech Rally Zlín winner Roman Kresta reckons local knowledge will count for very little if, as predicted, rain falls on Saturday’s stages.

Light drizzle has been falling on parts of the rally route today and the forecast tonight is for heavier rain with more showers on Saturday.

Kresta, a multiple Czech rally champion, is from the region where the Intercontinental Rally Challenge round is based but says it’s still easy to make the wrong tyre compound choice in the event of rain.

“My experience of the stages doesn’t matter, absolutely it doesn’t matter,” said Kresta. “I know these stages but you never know if there is rain or not. It can very quickly change to bad weather. I remember two years ago when there was sunshine and after 30 minutes it was full rain. You just never know.”

Despite his obvious pace, Kresta concedes that a fourth win will be out of reach this weekend. “The guys in the factory cars they are pushing like hell and for us it will be a danger if we are pushing to beat these guys like Hänninen, Kopecký and Mikkelsen because we’re just a private team.”

Cavigioli: Fans keep me coming back to Zlin

IRC Production Cup returnee Marco Cavigioli will start Barum Czech Rally Zlín for the 14th time tonight and says that it’s the enthusiasm of the many thousands of fans that line the all-asphalt route that keeps him coming back.

Cavigioli hasn’t competed in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge since the Cyprus Rally last November but is back in action on the event he first contested in 1998 in a Citroën Saxo Kit Car, finishing 10th overall.

“It was my first rally outside of Italy, it’s a very nice place and the fans here are completely different, so passionate and respectful,” said Cavigioli, the inaugural IRC 2WD Cup champion in 2008. “The mentality of the race is very, very amazing.”

Despite his love affair with the event, Cavigioli hasn’t always enjoyed an easy ride on the demanding asphalt stages in south-east Czech Republic. “After my first year for 11 years continuously I stopped in the race, it was unbelievable and five times it happened on the same stage,” he said.

The Zlín-based contest will be Cavigioli’s first competitive outing of the year as a driver after he navigated on a national event in his native Italy earlier in the season.

“It was just for fun, for my sponsor,” he said. “This is the first rally I do this year as a driver and I want to do more races in the IRC. The car is completely new for this rally and I hope to do my best. But I know after 14 years that it’s a very, very difficult rally and anything can happen.”

High jumpers to be rewarded on Zlin IRC round

Bravery will be rewarded when the popular Slušovice stage returns to the Barum Czech Rally Zlín schedule tomorrow live on Eurosport and free-to-air Czech TV.

The 15.94-kilometre ‘circuit’ stage features an artificial jump, U Johana, which bears the name of a popular restaurant in host city Zlín that specialises in Czech cuisine.

Organisers of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge event have joined forces with the restaurant owners, who have pledged to award the driver and co-driver that jump the furthest from the ground with a whole grilled piglet, a local delicacy.

While a Czech crew captured the prize five years ago, restaurant owner Jan Balloš has promised to hold the meal open indefinitely should a foreign team win. “We will arrange something,” he said. “The prize would definitely not expire.”

The Slušovice stage will take place twice on Saturday, at 10:10hrs and 13:10hrs. Live television coverage of both runs begins at 10:00hrs and 13:00hrs respectively.