Couple of weeks prior to the start of Kumrovec rally organizer recived good news from the president's office. President of the Republic of Croatia Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic has confirmed hers patronage of the 5. INA Rally Kumrovec 2016. The organizer in this occasion called the president to the most famous village in the world to symbolicaly mark the start of the race by raising the Croatian flag in front of the vehicle with starting number 1.

International 5. INA Rally Kumrovec will gather crews from six countries of the region. Nearly 70 crews announced their appearance and the registration process is open until 26. February. On the first day of the competition, on Friday, 4. March, Kreator TV will broadcast live the first special stage which will be held in the parking lot of Terme Tuhelj. After the inital two special stages that will have show-character, scoring part of the competition will be held on Saturday, 5. March at the circular track above Kumrovec. Itinerary is 51.40 km long, out of which 42.54 km will be special stages.

The specificity of Kumrovec stages lies in a narrow track with many linked curves and crests. Often lots of gravel gets on the asphalt which is put out of the roadside as drivers select the ideal line. For years, the audience recognizes Rally Kumrovec as an event that brings attractive rides with lots of jumps. In the previous four rallies Hungarian driver Janos Szilagyi was the best in such conditions. He has won three times, and in 2013 he had to withdraw after half of the rally due to illness of his co-driver while he held the lead. Daniel Šaškin of Porec has one victory in Kumrovec.

Almost a month prior to the start of the 5. INA Rally Kumrovec 2016, more than 60 competitor crews have entered for the event. With the prevailing 40 crews from Croatia, one-third comes from the surrounding countries - Slovenia, Serbia, Hungary, Italy and Austria. Among the most attractive ones certainly are triple winners Janos Szilagyi and Botond Csanyi with Peugeot 207 S2000, and winner of the Rally Kumrovec 2013 Daniel Saskin with Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X, who is still intensively searching for a co-driver.

The strongest class 1 consisting of the 4-wheel drive vehicles with mentioned Szilagyi and Saskin has another nine crews that will certainly fight for the top standings. Hungarian Sandor Olle has entered with Ford Fiesta S2000, while his compatriots Antal Kovacs and Zoltan Lencse entered with Fiestas R5. Always quick Slovenes Darko Peljhan with Lancer EVO X and Bostjan Logar with Subaru Impreza N14 also entered the event.

Interesting battles are expected in the so-called small classes. Viliam Prodan and Zdravko Drazenovic are coming to warm up for the Mitropa Rally Cup which starts on 18 and 19 March in Austria. With their top prepared Peugeot 208 R2 they will compete for the first time in Kumrovec since 2012 and try to overcome the crest which is among the rally drivers popularly called "Prodan's jump". The main competitors for the top will be Hungarians Sabolcs Borbas and Gergely Harmos in a Citroen DS3 R3T and two other Croatian crews with Mitropa experience Tomas Hrvatin and Marko Stiperski in Renault Clio RS and Ivica Siladić and Jasna Durak in Skoda Fabia R2.

For the first time in Kumrovec appearance of crews from Italy is expected. Acco Lino with co-driver Serena Annapaolo announced arrival with Renault Clio Maxi who, despite the older date of production is still very competitive on tarmac special stages. Angelo Martinis and Silvia Mosena with Citroen Saxo VTS, as well as Stefano Tavano and Dario Andrian with Honda Civic Vti are also on the entry list.

On Kumrovec special stages motorsport fans will be able to see vintage Ford Escort MK1 of Kresimir Ravenscak in one asphalt rally after four years of break. Among the entrants there can be found several interesting historical vehicles such as Fiat 126 od Marko Oto Juricev Martincev, Zastava 850 of Andrej Mrak or Lada 2107 of Gabor Wojtek.

There will be no lack of octane excitements on 5. INA Rally Kumrovec 2016. The prologue in the parking lot of Terme Tuhelj will be held on Friday 4. March, and the rally will continue with special stages in Kumrovec on Saturday. Entry procedure for participation is open until Friday 26 February.

Video announcement:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8U9Mv5kzvQ

On our Youtube channel You can find video recordings of all special stages on the 5th INA Rally Kumrovec 2016!

Prologue Terme Tuhelj:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRK_0vPyUC4

SS 1,2 - Super Sport 1,2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2DRYfPl96w

SS 3,4 - Kumrovec 1,2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Is5CXKpzvg

All participants of the "5th INA RALLY KUMROVEC 2016" have the possibility of accommodation in Terme Tuhelj, the largest spa and wellness center in Croatia, only 10 km from Kumrovec and 35 km from Zagreb.

More information about accommodation and reservation form you can find here.

On the official pages following documents are published: Rally Guide with all interesting information about the competition, Rally maps and sketches for competitors and Rally Maps for spectators with marked routes and parking space.

On the official website are published: Supplementary Regulations, Itinerary and Entry form.

All documents can be downloaded under the Competitors menu.

Motorsport season will start in Kumrovec this year as well, in the first weekend in March. The date is earlier than in previous years, and after a long time a Croatian championship rally will be held in winter. Although in recent years the winter months are above average warm, there is a possibility that Kumrovec will be driven in snow conditions.

Organizers partner this year will be Croatian oil company INA. "For many years INA is one of the biggest sponsors of sport in Croatia, and I'm especially pleased that the rally in Kumrovec was recognized as a well-organized event, which attracts many spectators every year. Oil industry and motorsport make quite logical "marriage" in each country, including Croatia, so I'm hoping that this is just the beginning of long-term cooperation of our club with one of the leading Croatian companies "- said the president of the club organizer AK Delta Sport Dino Deljkić after signing the contract on cooperation.

Pre-registration for the 5. INA Rally Kumrovec 2016 is already opened, and the official opening day for entries for the race is expected from 22 January. Format of the competition remains almost identical to last season's, with minor modifications made at the suggestion of the competitors. On Friday, 4 March, with a live coverage and streaming on Kreator.TV, two revial special stages will be held in the parking lot of our partners Terme Tuhelj, which are preparing favorable conditions of accommodation for the competitors. Saturday features four special stages on the round track accessible in only three minutes walk from the start and finish portal situated in Muzej Staro selo in Kumrovec.

Click here to download Rally Guide (pdf)

Pobjedom posade Janos Szilagy i Botond Csanyi u Mitsubishi Lanceru Evo 9 završio je '4. Rally Kumrovec' i otvorena je nova sezona Prvenstva Hrvatske u rally-ju.Na drugu poziciju pobjedničkog postolja popeli su se Daniel Šaškin i Damir Bruner u Mitsubishi Lanceru Evo 10 s 0:05,1 zaostatka, dok je veteran ove discipline, Nenad Lončarić sa suvozačem Tomislavom Pazmanom u Subaru Imprezi STi zauzeo treće mjesto. Oni za vodećima zaostaju 1:31,8.

Aktualni Prvaci Hrvatske, Jura Šebalj i Toni Klinc u Mitsubishi Lanceru Evo 9 diskvalificirani su jer se nisu pojavili na vremenskoj kontroli prvog brzinskog ispita. Isto se dogodilo i posadi Juraj Puškar i Saša Lozar u Mitsubishi Lanceru Evo 8. Startalo je više od 40 posada, a završilo njih 32.

Nakon prva dva današnja brzinska ispita u vodstvu su Szilagy i Csanyi u Mitsubishi Lanceru Evo 9, na drugo mjesto skočili su Šaškin i Bruner u Evo 10 i za hrvatsko-mađarskom posadom zaostaju nešto manje od 15 sekundi.

Treću poziciju trenutačno drže Kovacs i Istovics u Ford Fiesti. Jura Šebalj i Toni Klinc, iako su opasno napali prvu poziciju u Mitsubishi Evo 9, diskvalificirani su jer su promašli vremensku kontrolu. Isto se dogodilo još jednom Juri, Puškaru sa Sašom Lozarom u Evo 8.