Abarth has arrived in the Czech Republic this week after a highly successful last outing on the island of Madeira (above) where Giandomenico Basso raced to victory while team mate Luca Rossetti posted fastest stage times before he crashed out.

The Barum Czech Rally Zlín, round 8 of 11 in this year’s Intercontinental Rally Challenge gets underway this evening with a huge entry including no fewer than 25 of the top-flight Super 2000 machines – another record attendance for the IRC.

Coming into the 39th Barum Czech Rally Zlín on a high is the Abarth squad, after team leader Giandomenico Basso won the series' last event in Madeira to boost himself into the IRC title race. The second of the team’s Abarth Grande Punto S2000 machines will be driven once again by Luca Rossetti, as the all-Italian squad seeks to catche up on its Skoda and Peugeot rivals. Four privately entered Abarth machines will provide a strong foil to the factory duo.

The Barum Czech Rally Zlín is unique among asphalt events. The rolling green Czech countryside and thick forests provide a stunning backdrop through which the drivers must display speed and precision in equal measure. In the forest sections the roads are rough, narrow and tantalisingly fast despite the looming trees that crowd the road. With barely enough room to squeeze a car through, it is precision rather than bravery that counts.

On the open road sections speed is all-important, coupled with rhythm. Smooth, flowing lines are what will make the difference - and effective pace notes. Given the dramatic changes in terrain through each stage and the number of dangers lurking just centimetres off-line, the co-driver's role is vital to success. Last year the Abarth factory squad was blighted by transmission issues on the rally but not before Basso was able to show that the Italian cars could match the pace.

The action gets underway in the town centre of Zlín this evening (Friday August 21) with the ceremonial start at 20:57 C.E.T. leading into a fabulous spectator-friendly Superspecial stage in the city before the rally proper kicks off tomorrow morning.

The Barum Czech Rally Zlín is the foremost motor sport event in the Czech Republic, drawing enormous public interest each year and all the more so in 2009 as the works Skoda Motorsport team attempts to unseat the leading Peugeot runners from the top of this year’s championship tables. Skoda missed the previous round, the Rali Vinho Madeira, earlier this month in order to focus its pair of Fabia S2000 machines on an all-out assault on its home event. Asphalt ace Jan Kopecký sits just five points behind current series leader Kris Meeke with three rounds remaining.

Once again Meeke heads a very large entry of Peugeot 207 S2000 machines, including the two Benelux-entered cars of Belgian star Freddy Loix and France’s defending IRC champion Nicolas Vouilloz. Among the other Peugeot runners are some extremely fast and experienced local Czech runners, such as Pavel Valousek, ex-Skoda WRC man Roman Kresta and the BF Goodrich Drivers Team entry of newly-crowned Junior World Rally Championship winner, Martin Prokop.

Meanwhile, among the ‘guest’ entries on the event will be the Citroen Junior WRC Team member, Evgeny Novikov. The teenage Russian is the third and final member of the Citroen squad to have competed in this year’s IRC, after his French team-mate Sebastien Ogier took a stunning victory on round 1 in Monte Carlo when he drove the BF Goodrich Drivers Team Peugeot, and was followed by young Zimbabwean Conrad Rautenbach when he drove a Peugeot on the Rally Azores. Novikov will drive a Skoda Fabia S2000 and is expected to have new co-driver Stephane Prevot alongside him.

A large contingent of Mitsubishi entries also makes its way to the 39th Barum Czech Rally Zlín, led by Franz Wittmann, son of the two-time winner of this classic Czech event; Franz Wittmann Sr. Among those bidding to beat Wittmann are Dutchman Jasper van den Heuvel, who flew on his last IRC appearance in Ypres with his unique Evo X. The remaining 29 Ralliart runners will compete in the tried and tested Evo IX and will be crewed by contenders for the local championship - who will doubtless show strongly against the international field of the IRC.

Proton’s all-new IRC effort with the Satria Neo S2000 sees the single car to have competed so far, that of British driver Guy Wilks, paired up with a second entry for Frenchman Bryan Bouffier. The highly promising new contenders scored a fourth-place finish in last month’s Rally Russia in Wilks’s hands, and as the car continues to undergo rigorous development to make up ground it can be expected to perform more strongly on every event.

Honda also returns to IRC action in the Czech Republic with a strong entry in the 2WD Cup. On last month’s Rally Russia the top 2-wheel-drive Civic Type R performed strongly enough to give the Japanese giant its first outright points in the IRC, but with competition from Peugeot and Fiat there will be a tremendous battle in store for the class honours.