Our colleague Marcel Sítník has returned to rallying after several years
After a 17-year hiatus, Marcel Sítník returned to the rally starting line. His personal connection to motorsports, his many years of experience, and an opportunity that made sense from both a sporting and personal perspective brought him back into the cockpit.
Chrudim, July 20, 2026 — He competed in the 25th ŽELEZNÉ HORY RALLY 2026, which was part of the Bohemian-Moravian Rally Cup and took place on July 17 and 18. He took the wheel of an Opel Corsa Rally4, a high-performance rally car designed for fast and technically demanding rallies.
The decision came after a meeting with Jaroslav Starý, a former factory driver from Mladá Boleslav. Starý’s son is currently racing an identical car, and Starý is mentoring him in motorsports. From that initial conversation and a subsequent test drive, the idea gradually took shape that Marcel could return to the racetrack in a competitive event.
“One thing led to another—I took a test ride, and that sparked the idea for me to race in the same event where his son is competing,” says Marcel Sítník. “Back in the day, I was one of the fast drivers, and Jarda and I have known each other for a very long time, including from our time together on Roman Kresta’s team. He was the so-called ‘ice spy,’ and I was the one who handled all the essentials.”
It is precisely this long-standing connection that has given the whole comeback a personal dimension. At the same time, Marcel notes with a sense of perspective that after so many years, it’s hard to say whether he should be compared to the “Old One,” or vice versa. What matters, however, is that after all these years, he is once again getting behind the wheel of a race car and returning to an environment he knows well.
For Marcel Sítník, the start of the 2026 Železné hory Rally thus marked not only a return behind the wheel, but also a reminder of his long-standing connection to the rally world, which came together again after many years during a single race weekend.
“A genuine passion for cars is a key part of our company’s DNA, which is why we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to financially support Marcel Sítník’s participation in the 25th annual Železné hory Rally,” says Martin Vaca, CEO of AVM Technology.
Overall ranking: 25th out of 64
Photo archive from Petra Stark
