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Czech federation continues support of ERC Junior star Mareš

Filip Mareš’ status as the Czech Republic’s big hope for future stardom has again been endorsed by his country’s motorsport federation.

In the capital Prague earlier today, the Autoclub of the Czech Republic reaffirmed its continued support of the 27-year-old talent from Mladá Boleslav, who will contest Czech and FIA European Rally Championship events under the ACA ŠKODA AUTOKLUB TEAM and ACCR Czech Team banner respectively.

ACA ŠKODA AUTOKLUB TEAM is an alliance between the Autoclub of the Czech Republic, ŠKODA Auto and Autocentrala, a Czech ŠKODA dealer network. Roman Kresta’s Kresta Racing will run Mareš and co-driver Jan Hloušek in a ŠKODA Fabia R5 with a four-event ERC1 Junior campaign to be contested alongside a major Czech championship assault. Michelin is a new project partner for 2019.

By providing Mareš and Hloušek with the opportunity to prove their talent at both national and international level, the Autoclub of the Czech Republic can be praised for its efforts in helping young drivers progress in the sport when limited finances would have otherwise prevented them from doing so.

With support of the Autoclub of the Czech Republic, Mareš challenged for the Pirelli-supported ERC Junior Under 27 title in 2017. Despite it being his first season of international competition, he excelled by finishing third in the championship. His reward for 2018 was a step up to a ŠKODA Fabia R5 for a Czech championship campaign, plus selected ERC events, in season one of a three-year programme.

“Last season was mainly about learning and getting familiar with a new car,” said Mareš. “This year we would like to show our quality and regularly fight for top places. During the winter I worked on my driving style, a direction for improvement that I could use on the last two races on gravel in ERC last year. Of course we are also working on fitness and pacenotes, but now we are going to the last phase of preparation to be prepared to the maximum for the first round of the Czech championship, the Valašská Rally.”

Jean-Baptiste Ley, the ERC Co-ordinator, welcomed the Autoclub of the Czech Republic’s continued support of young talent and the return of Filip Mareš in ERC1 Junior. “The Autoclub of the Czech Republic are to be applauded for what they are doing to help young talent and we are delighted they recognise that the ERC is an ideal platform for Filip and Jan’s ongoing development.”

Mareš is one of several ERC Junior graduates to have gained experience in R5 machinery. Others include Fabio Andolfi, Emil Bergkvist, Jan Černý, Marijan Griebel, Nikolay Gryazin, Jari Huttunen, Chris Ingram, Stéphane Lefebvre, Tamara Molinaro, Łukasz Pieniazek, Ralfs Sirmacis and Aleks Zawada.

The Kowax Valašská Rally ValMez opens the Czech championship season from 29-31 March.

Zdroj: fiaerc.com