🔎 What does the opening stage tell us?

🔎 What does the opening stage tell us?

1. Mabellini means business.
He was only ninth in the shakedown, +2.996s off the pace, but once the competition started for real, he immediately jumped into the lead. And we are not talking about a short, few-hundred-metre show stage either: the 9.57-kilometre, three-lap Zlín SSS is long enough for the result to carry some real weight.

2. Marczyk picks up where he left off in the shakedown.
He was fastest there and is now second, just 1.6 seconds behind Mabellini. So far, the Pole has perhaps been the most consistent performer of the weekend.

3. Březík is definitely one to watch.
Shakedown: 7th → SSS1: 3rd.
And he is only 2.8 seconds off the lead. A very strong start on home soil.

4. Veteran Kopecký is right there.
He is fifth, but only 3.5 seconds off the lead. With the 12-time Barum winner, I certainly wouldn’t draw any negative conclusions from that. Tomorrow brings the kind of roads where his extraordinary local knowledge could really come into play.

5. Suninen is in an interesting position.
Shakedown: 3rd → SSS1: 7th, +5.1s. But considering this is his first Barum Rally, that is by no means a poor start. The bigger question is how quickly he can get to grips with these extremely distinctive Czech asphalt stages.

🛞 Four tyre manufacturers in the TOP 10

I particularly like this aspect of the result.

Pirelli 2 – Michelin 4 – Hankook 2 – MRF 1 in the TOP 9, with Tempestini putting another MRF-equipped car inside the top ten. There is no sign of one tyre manufacturer enjoying total dominance.

It is even more interesting when we look at the cars: seven Škodas in the TOP 10, yet it is Mabellini’s Lancia that leads the rally. Wagner puts Hyundai fourth, while Mareš has Toyota in sixth.

⚔️ The real Barum starts tomorrow

The top six:

Mabellini → Marczyk +1.6 → Březík +2.8 → Wagner +3.2 → Kopecký +3.5 → Mareš +3.9.

Six drivers covered by just 3.9 seconds!

Tomorrow morning, the 12.51-kilometre Pohořelice test will be a proper conventional rally stage. I think we will find out very quickly there whether Mabellini’s Friday-night performance was something more than another superb display from a driver who clearly excels on Zlín’s city stage.

And I, for one, am particularly curious to see Kopecký’s first stage time on Saturday. 😄🏁

SSS1 Zlín – 9,57 km | TOP 10