The second stage of the 52nd Rallye Český Krumlov 2025, which is included in FIA European Rally Trophy, Autoklub Czech Rally Championship, Autoklub Rally Challenge or Autoklub Czech Historic Sporting Rally Championship, had seven stages in the schedule with a total length of 85.6 measured kilometres. The crews took on the Práčov stage first, followed by Malšín and finally the legendary Malonty stage, which covered over 26 kilometres.
Práčov, i.e. the five initial measured kilometres, became the prey of Filip Mareš, who starts with the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2. Jan Kopecký lost 1.2 seconds, but that could not change the overall standings. Simon Wagner, who was unlucky yesterday when he suffered technical problems with his Hyundai, came third and started to climb in the standings. He lost just 1.3 seconds to the winning Mareš. Práčov put a stop to Austrian baker Ernst Haneder.
The second stage on Saturday was Malšín. Jan Kopecký crossed the finish line in the fastest time on this ten-kilometre timed section. Filip Mareš lost 0.7 seconds to the fastest Jan Kopecký, but nothing changed in the overall lead. Third was Austrian Simon Wagner. Bernard Mann (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX) crashed after a fleeting finish of this timed test.
The first pass of Malonty changed the standings, but not the lead. Filip Mareš made the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 hours with a subsequent trip off the track. Malonty reached the finish line in the tenth fastest time and lost almost half a minute to leader Kopecký. On the other hand, Erik Cais set the second fastest time and leapfrogged Mareš in the standings. Jan Kopecký, who was also the fastest here, increased his lead in the 52nd Rallye Český Krumlov 2025 to 36.2 seconds. Thanks to the third fastest time in the longest stage of Saturday’s leg, Simon Wagner moved up one place to seventh overall. The fourth fastest time was set by a very good Ján Kundlák, who lost 13.6 seconds to Kopecký. Aleš Jirásek (Škoda Fabia R5) also produced a clock with an off-track excursion. Martin Rada (Fiat 124 Abarth RGT) suffered a double puncture.
In the historic car category, Vlastimil Neumann (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO III) still leads the intermediate classification, having won both Práčov and Malonty. The first passage through the Malšín stage was cancelled for the historic car crews. The cousins Jurečka (Subaru Impreza 555) finished second in Práčov, while Jiří Kašpar (Škoda 130 LR) finished third. On the long Malonty, the experienced Jindřich Štolfa finished second and he also took the silver position. Jiří Kašpar was third in the overall standings.
Saturday’s passage through the CB Auto Rallye Arena super special stage fell prey to Filip Mareš, whose Toyota remains unbeaten on this specific stage. He set the fastest time 1.2 seconds ahead of second-placed Dominik Stříteský (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2), with the Austrian-German crew of Wagner / Ostlender third. Between fourth Dominik Stříteský and fifth Jan Kundlák (Škoda Fabia R5) there was a 5.5 second difference. After completing this spectator’s ersatz, the crews headed to their mechanics for a half-hour service. This gave the competing cars the opportunity to get back into shape before the final section of the competition, which included repeated passes of the Práčov, Malšín and Malonty stages.
The repeated passage through the short Práčov did not change anything in the running order. Simon Wagner was the fastest, with Jan Kopecký finishing second, a second behind. Filip Kohn, who also has experience in world rallies, crossed the finish line third.
Jan Kopecký won with a minimal lead of 0.2 seconds, Simon Wagner finished second. Third was Filip Mareš, who set the same time as the Austrian Wagner by a tenth of a second. Erik Cais set the fourth fastest time and reduced his lead on the third placed Mareš to 6.9 seconds. In the category of cars with one driven axle, Filip Ocelka led after the eleventh stage, Filip Šipoš was second with 12.8 seconds behind and David Štefan third.
The best at the end, or the last stage of this year’s Rallye Český Krumlov was the legendary Malonty. Simon Wagner and Hanna Ostlender were the fastest, and this great result meant that Adam Březík jumped to sixth place in the overall classification. Erik Cais also pulled away and with an excellent second time on this timed section he secured second place overall in the competition. Filip Mareš came in third and the bronze place also belongs to him in the overall ranking of the race. The fourth time at Malonty (even so, it improved by 0.5 seconds compared to the first pass) did not change the fact that Jan Kopecký and Jiří Hovorka drove to the absolute victory in the 52nd Rallye Český Krumlov 2025. Jan Kopecký also rewrote the historical tables of the South Bohemian competition, because he won here for the ninth time!
Vlastimil Neumann and Martin Hlavatý won the historic car category in start-finish style. Their Mitsubishi Lancer EVO III was the fastest on all the stages that were run. Jiří Kašpar and Pavel Adamek finished second in their Škoda 130 LR, the Jurečka cousins in their Subaru Impreza 555 finished third. Jindřich Štolfa and Zdeněk Hawel did not break their incredible luck this year either, their Ford Escort RS 1600 was stopped by a clutch failure in the final stage.
Results of 52. Rallye Český Krumlov 2025:
- Kopecký / Hovorka – Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 1:18:35,2
- Cais / Trunkát – Hyundai i20N Rally2 +36,9
- Mareš / Bucha – Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 +45,3
- Stříteský / Bacigál – Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 +1:31,6
- Kundlák / Baran – Škoda Fabia R5 +1:47,0
- Wagner / Ostlenderová – Hyundai i20N Rally2 +1:50,6
- Březík / Krajča – Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 +1:57,1
- Von Thurn und Taxis / Hainová – Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 +2:47,1
- Kohn / Whittock – Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 +2:50,1
- Cvrček / Těšínský – Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 +3:11,1
Results of 52. Rallye Český Krumlov 2025 (historic cars):
- Neumann / Hlavatý – Mitsubishi Lancer EVO III 1:26:58,3
- Kašpar / Adámek – Škoda 130 LR +4:46,6
- Jurečka / Jurečka – Subaru Impreza 555 +5:19,0
- Pavlát / Pavlát – Toyota Celica GT-Four +7:29,9
- Hejhal / Hejhal – Škoda 130 LR +8:13,2
- Bahník / Bahník – Peugeot 205 Gti +10:04,1