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The victory of Dariusz Poloński in the Rally of Rome meant that in the Abarth Rally Cup the Italian and Polish crews are separated by only one point. It is those two duos that will fight against each other for the cup. The 49th Barum Czech Rally Zlin, scheduled for August 16-18, as the sixth round of the FIA ERC European Championship, may be an important stage of this competition.
Our southern neighbors have prepared 15 special stages with a total length of over 215 km, which makes the Czech classic the longest asphalt rally of the 2019 season so far. The schedule includes such classic and iconic stages as Semetin, Majak or Pindula, and everything will – as before – begin with spectacular superstage in Zlin.
Dariusz Poloński and Łukasz Sitek received starting number 30 and on Friday night’s prologue they will start as the second crew, right after the duo Andrea Nucita / Bernardo Di Caro. On the starting list, comprising 137 crews, there are four Abarths 124 Rally RGT. Rear-wheel "scorpions" will follow the leaders of the European Championships and the Czech Championships in R5 cars.
Concerning the list of crews, the Barum Rally also seems to be record-breaking, because in ERC 2019 the fans have not yet had the opportunity to see as many as 34 rally cars in the strongest specification in one round. Interestingly, there are also Rallytechnology accents among the R5s, thanks to Simon Wagner and Antonin Tlustak. The two drivers of Skoda Fabia will be scoring for the Rybnik team this weekend in the team classification.
The winners of the 49th edition of "Barumka" and the penultimate round of the Abarth Rally Cup will be announced on Sunday around 5 pm.
Robert Gabryszewski (Rallytechnology team manager): In the Rallytechnology calendar, the time has come to visit Zlin. Barum Czech Rally Zlin is not only one of the oldest and most demanding Czech rallies, but also the quintessence of this sport across our southern border. The tracks, considered by many to be the most difficult asphalt special stages in Europe, have been attracting hundreds of thousands of fans for years, including a large group of Poles. Start in "Barumka" always brings great emotions, and for our team this season also high hopes in the fight for the title.
Dariusz Poloński and Łukasz Sitek have been showing a very good and even pace since the beginning of their debut season in the Abarth Rally Cup. They have scored so far in all four starts, and thanks to their victory in the Rally di Roma Capitale (July 19-21), their loss to the leaders has gone down to just 1 point. Two rounds before the end of the cup, the fight really starts again, and the result won this weekend in Zlin may turn out to be crucial.
Tests, which took place near Ustroń at the beginning of the week, allowed us to prepare well for the waiting fight. Darek and Łukasz are constantly improving their pace, so we are optimistic about the start and we believe that the crew will provide us and Polish fans with many positive emotions.
However, it is not over yet because Simon and Antonin will represent our colors in the most filled R5 car class in this rally. We keep our fingers crossed for the duos Tlustak / Vybiral and Wagner / Winter and two Fabia R5’s serviced by Rallytechnology. See you at RZ and in the service area in Otrokovice.
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