In less than three months, blooming South Bohemia will be devoted to a car rally again where the winner is neither the fastest nor the one with the best cornering technique. Czech New Energies Rallye, a sports event intended for owners of electric cars, CNG/LPG or other alternative fuel powered cars, will be held in the traditional spring term, May 16-18, as a regularity rallye. The finish order will be determined by how precisely the average speed set by the organizers is maintained, however this year crews will be ranked according to the FIA rules also with respect to the energy volume consumed.

The already 8^th Czech New Energies Rallye is again a part of the thirteen-event World Cup for electric cars. Within the frame of the international FIA Electric and New Energy Championship 2019, crews will fight for points not only in the Czech Republic but also in Greece, Switzerland, Portugal, France, Canada, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Monaco and Iceland. The prestige and difficulty level of separate events are newly established through a coefficient. „Since the very beginning, we have been striving for the highest possible one, so we have prepared a difficult three-day event with an itinerary of about 620 km,” confirms the main event organizer Pavel Kacerovský.

What does it mean in practice? While in the previous years crews ran a concentration leg prior to the official start, getting a chance to learn how to read in the Road Book or understand various intricacies prepared for them by the organizers on the route from various start points to the historic centre of Český Krumlov, now they will start straight away. Presentation, administrative checks and scrutineering will take place on Thursday, May 16, on two places simultaneously – on the premises of Střední průmyslová škola strojní a stavební (Secondary School of Mechanical and Building Engineering) in Tábor, and at the same time on the premises of the Kreisel Electric technology centre near the Austrian border town of Rainbach im Mühlkreis.

Just after the ceremonial start another novelty will follow that could surprise even regular participants of this unique rallye. Within 4 hours the crews will have to drive a relatively simple way to České Budějovice following the Road Book, however competitors driving an electric vehicle might encounter dilemma how to tackle the section without any single charging stop and even calibrate their tripmaster or an app measuring the distance travelled and average speed during that time. If their battery capacity does not cover the remaining kilometres, their task will be to find a public EV charging station (with a little hint from the organizers) and share free cables with other drivers in need of charging. It might happen quite easily that let’s say five „thirsty” cars arrive at one fast charger within a couple minutes…

„We were inspired by this manner of free charging at eRallye Monte-Carlo we participated in last autumn. The organizers of this famous event ensure a source of electricity for crews in the night Parc Fermé only, otherwise it is up to everyone where and how they will charge their EVs. We are lucky that several public charging stations have been built in South Bohemia recently, besides that we will offer the crews one fast charger in cooperation with Siemens, our new technology partner, just at the heart of the event. We are convinced that this leg will represent a real challenge for all EV drivers, “ explains Pavel Kacerovský of ČK motorsport.

After a joint Time Control at the Exhibition Ground (Výstaviště) in České Budějovice the stopwatch will start counting the time allocated for tackling the second part of the initial day when the crews shall run through the first two regularity stages. During Friday and Saturday, the crews will drive through further 14 sections, most of them copying the special stages of the concurrent 47^th Rallye Český Krumlov. Except for one special stage in České Budějovice attended by thousands fans, Czech New Energies Rallye will be run in normal traffic without any road closures. „This is a common practice worldwide for a regularity rallye since only mass-produced vehicles take part and the speed average in separate special stages never exceeds 50 km/h. So the crews shall maintain the average speed and at the same time respect all traffic rules,” points out Kacerovský, adding that the total length of all measures tests is almost 250 km, the highest number in the history of the event.

Premiere measurement of electric vehicles consumption will be performed on more than half of the total route. The Friday leg and also the initial (and more demanding at the same time) part of the Saturday leg will be taken into special account for the final point allocation. This means that unlike in the previous years, one extra set of trophy cups will be prepared on the finish ramp below the Castle of Český Krumlov for the crews who drove in the most ecological manner. During the extended weekend, participants can also look forward to a rich sideshow, including an opening gala evening in the 5-star Hotel Růže.

The complete program of the 8^th Czech New Energies Rallye 2019 is available on the website www.rallye-newenergies.cz where all the necessary information will be gradually published during the next weeks. Any holder of a driving licence and owner of a vehicle with an electric drivetrain, CNG, LPG powered car or a vehicle with alternative energy propulsion may take part in the competition. The closing date for entries was set to April 30, 2019.