This year’s Rallye Český Krumlov kicked off on Friday afternoon. The South Bohemian event is part of the FIA European Rally Trophy, the Autoklub Czech Rally Championship, the Autoklub Rally Challenge, and the Autoklub Czech Historic Sporting Rally Championship. The opening stage consisted of six special stages with a total length of 60 kilometers.
A total of 112 rally cars (73 modern, 18 historic, and 21 in the Legends category) were admitted to the 53rd Rallye Český Krumlov 2026 following technical scrutineering. All the favorites vying for this year’s 2026 Czech Rally Championship title were present at the start.
It has become a tradition for the crews competing in the Rally Legends Show to be the first to take to the Super SS track at the České Budějovice Exhibition Grounds in front of the spectators. Historic cars of various makes could be seen racing at high speeds. These included, for example, the Renault 5 Turbo, Audi 80 Quattro, Saab 99 Turbo, and several models from the domestic automaker Škoda. After the modern and historic cars had completed their runs, the “legends” repeated this spectator special stage.
At 4:00 p.m. sharp, Filip Mareš and Radovan Bucha set off on the opening special stage with start number one. However, Dominik Stříteský in a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 was the fastest on the nearly three-kilometer-long stage at the exhibition grounds in České Budějovice. Filip Mareš, starting in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, was just 0.6 seconds behind in second place. The third driver in this timed test, reigning Czech Rally Champion Jan Kopecký, recorded the smallest time gap. Jan Dostál and Zdeněk Dostál completed one lap fewer, while Jaroslav Kastner and Vlastimil Morkus suffered a technical issue. Miloslav Stejskal and Radek Maruna also experienced a technical issue following this special stage.
The longest stage on Friday was Přídolí. This year, the stage started in the village of Přídolí and joined the section known from the Rožmitál stage in Zátoň. Jan Kopecký and Jiří Hovorka dominated the first run and took the provisional lead in the competition. Dominik Stříteský and Ondřej Krajča recorded the second-fastest time. Adam Březík finished third and moved up to third place in the overall standings. Unfortunately, after this timed section, the Kraml brothers’ crew dropped out of the results (their Ford Fiesta R5’s driveshaft), as did Tomáš Zeman and Libor Kubista (transmission) and Miroslav Kalina and Renata Rišková (technical failure). The Opel Adam driven by the local crew of Jakub Ziegelbauer and Jan Winzig went off the track, but fortunately they are continuing.
The overall standings also shifted during the next classic timed special stage, Ján. Jan Kopecký posted only the fifth-fastest time and dropped to third place in the overall standings. Adam Březík won the first run of Ján and moved up to second place in the overall standings. Dominik Stříteský posted the second-fastest time in the stage, which meant he returned to the lead in the overall standings with a one-second advantage. Due to an ambulance being dispatched to a crashed car, the start of the historic cars on the Ján special stage was delayed by 27 minutes.
Before the service, the competing crews still had to tackle a second run through the spectator special stage at the exhibition grounds in České Budějovice. Filip Mareš crossed the finish line of this short stage with the fastest time, followed by Březík and Kundlák. However, there was no change in the overall standings.
In the historic car category, Martin Klepáč leads the standings after four timed stages in his stunning Peugeot 306 Maxi. Jiří Kašpar and Pavel Adámek are currently in second place. In third place is the home team from ČK motorsport, consisting of Jindřich Štolfa and Zdeněk Hawel. The field of historic cars has lost Martin Knížek and his BMW 318 iS; the reason for the withdrawal is a technical engine failure. The home duo of Michael Řepa and Lukáš Votava finished due to a technical failure after the Ján special stage.
Competitors participating in the Rallye Legend Show began the day with two runs through the spectator special stage at the České Budějovice exhibition grounds, followed by the first runs through the classic timed stages of Přídolí and Ján. The “legends” completed the final special stages once again at the České Budějovice exhibition grounds. Their program will continue tomorrow.
The second runs through the Přídolí and Ján special stages took place after dark, so the mechanics installed light bars on the rally cars during the service break. On the second run through Přídolí, the crew of Jaroslav Petráš and Zdeněk Omelka crashed and withdrew from the lead in the single-axle-drive category. Polish driver Biedrzyński also crashed in the same stage with his Hyundai i20 N Rally2. The special stage was briefly suspended due to these accidents. Dominik Stříteský set the fastest time in his Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, extending his lead over second-place Adam Březík to 2.7 seconds. Jan Kopecký finished second and Adam Březík third.
On the final special stage of the opening leg of the 53rd Rallye Český Krumlov 2026—the Ján stage—three crews clocked the exact same fastest time!! Filip Mareš, Jan Kopecký, and Adam Březík all crossed the finish line photo cell to the nearest tenth of a second.
Dominik Stříteský and Ondřej Krajča won the opening stage of this year’s Rallye Český Krumlov, with Adam Březík and Zdeněk Bělák finishing second and Jan Kopecký and Jiří Hovorka taking third place. The top three crews competed in Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 cars.
53rd Rallye Český Krumlov 2026 –Standings after the first stage
1. Stříteský / Krajča 31:56,2
2. Březík / Bělák +1,8
3. Kopecký / Hovorka +3,7
4. Mareš / Bucha +10,4
5. Wagner / Ostlender +27,4
6. Cais / Trunkát +41,3
7. Kundlák / Baran +42,0
8. Pech / Uhel +59,7
9. Cvrček / Prokorát +1:35,7
10. Kohn / Těšínský +1:38,0
In the historic cars category, local driver Jindřich Štolfa led the charge. His second run through Ján was his first stage win at this year’s “Krumlov,” but with a lead that moved him into second place, just 3.2 seconds behind the current leader, Martin Klepáč. Luboš Dolák, driving a Toyota Celica, withdrew from the race during this stage.
Martin Klepáč won the final special stage of the first leg of the 53rd Rallye Český Krumlov 2026 in the historic class with his Peugeot 306 Maxi, and he also took first place in Friday’s stage standings. Jindřich Štolfa took second place in both the special stage and the entire opening stage in his Ford Escort RS 1600. The bronze position after the opening stage went to Jiří Kašpar in his Škoda 130 LR.
53rd Rallye Český Krumlov 2026 – historic cars category – Standings after the first stage
1. Klepáč / Říhánek 39:10,4
2. Štolfa / Hawel +11,4
3. Kašpar / Adámek +23,8
4. Klik / Kalistová +1:01,2
5. Omelka / Valný +2:24,3
6. Hloušek / Rozsíval +3:54,6