The sixth round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge is the Barum Rally Zlin in the Czech Republic, which for several years has also been a mainstay of the European Rally Championship.

The stages are all run on asphalt, but this is far from a typical asphalt rally. In fact, there is an intriguing mix of conditions that takes crews over broken concrete paths, narrow forest tracks, demanding cobbled sections and rapid sweeping roads.

The stages are all very different in character, which makes the Barum Rally a good overall test of driving skill. One of the highlights of the event is the long spectator superspecial that runs right through the town centre of Zlin and is as involving as a proper forest stage.

It's no surprise that the event is extremely popular with fans, as the Czech Republic is one of the heartlands of rallying, and the home of several top drivers. This year the fans will have an extra treat in store, as the course car will be the all-new Skoda Fabia S2000, driven by the Czech Republic's biggest rally star, Jan Kopecky.

In order to succeed on the Barum Rally, the cars need to have a versatile set-up that will cope well with a wide variety of conditions. Although this is classified as an asphalt rally, the roads can become quite dirty as plenty of gravel is pulled onto the racing line where the cars cut the corners.

A number of the stages run through forests, which leads to lots of leaves and vegetation on the racing line. This means that crews have to pay particular attention to finding the right braking areas: an aspect of the rally that caught out a few drivers last year.

The rally gets underway with a ceremonial start at 17:00 on Friday night in Zlin town centre, followed by the superspecial stage at 21:00. Saturday sees the crews tackle eight stages, split into two loops of four runs with central service at Otrokovice.

Sunday presents the crew with six more stages, this time split into two loops of three runs. The finish takes place back in Zlin at 15:30 after a total of 15 stages comprising 263.06 competitive kilometres.

The weather is forecast to be dry and hot, although there is always the possibility of unexpected showers.