25 Years Of Škoda In The World Rally Championship
Škoda are no strangers to rallying having been successful for many years, but its now 25 years since their debut in the FIA World Rally Championship.
It was back in 1999 that Škoda entered a WRC spec Octavia into the world’s top rally series and have since entered a range of Fabia based cars. But it was that unassuming hatchback that started it all. The Octavia turned out to be one of the Volkswagen Group’s best products and sell very well in the UK. It was bigger than the Golf that it shared a platform with, and it was cheaper. Being built in Mladá Boleslav it was better made too, with that plant being renowned for its manufacturing quality.
We’ll take a look at the cars Škoda entered over the last quarter of a century.
Škoda Octavia WRC 1999
It was a year long test and development programme that saw the Octavia turn into the first of Škoda WRC entries. Škoda Motorsport entered the new WRC car in the Monte Carlo Rally in 1999. Complying with WRC regulations the Octavia was powered by a 2.0 litre turbocharged engine, with five valves per cylinder, producing the maximum permissible 300 hp and 500 Nm of torque. This rose to 600 Nm with further development.
The Octavia met the minimum weight of 1,230 kg and featured all wheel drive, now an essential feature in rallying. Technically this was Škoda’s most advanced and probably dynamic of all its rally cars. It was certainly more expensive and this was very different from those early rear engine cars with the additional traction.
The last race of 1999 was the Rally of Great Britain and saw Belgian Bruno Thiry come close to a podium finish, with a fourth place overall. This was quite a respectable result for the car’s first season and Škoda Motorsports first WRC car.
Škoda Fabia WRC 2003
It seems strange to think that the Fabia as a rally car is now over 20 years old. Taking over from the Octavia, the trend for smaller cars had been established and the new Fabia was well suited to the task. The first event for the car was the Rally Germany in 2003.
Again, the new Škoda featured a 2 litre turbocharged four cylinder engine with 300 hp and 600 Nm of torque. All four wheels were driven through a sequential six speed gearbox and three active differentials. McPherson suspension with front wishbones and two at the rear with a trailing arm and disc brakes at each wheel.
Again, the new Škoda featured a 2 litre turbocharged four cylinder engine with 300 hp and 600 Nm of torque. All four wheels were driven through a sequential six speed gearbox and three active differentials. McPherson suspension with front wishbones and two at the rear with a trailing arm and disc brakes at each wheel.
Due to WRC regulations Škoda had to fit a new front bumper to the production Fabia RS to homologate it as it was too short. FIA rules required the car to be a minimum of 4 metres long.
One of the best results for the Fabia WRC was at the hands of Colin McCrae and co-driver Nicky Grist in 2005. The 1995 champions were some of rallying’s best known characters and at the Wales Rally GB the finished seventh and in the final event of the year in Australia were running second overall only having to retire due to a clutch problem.
Škoda Motorsport withdrew at the end of 2005 leaving two private teams competing with Factory support in 2006 and 2007 with the Fabia WRC.
Fabia S2000 – 2009
It was 2009 that saw the team from Mladá Boleslav break through with the development of the Škoda Fabia S2000 project which was based on the second generation Fabia.
With the new car Škoda entered the World Rally Championship PWRC Category and the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) for the first time. They also launched a new customer programme for the cars which has been the most successful to date so far.
Škoda built a total of 63 Fabia S2000 models for customers who put them to good use as with them they managed to win 50 national and international titles.
The factory team were also very successful throughout this time with their trio of drivers, Juho Hänninen, Jan Kopecký and Esappeka Lappi.
Fabia R5, R5 Evo, Rally2, Rally2 Evo 2015
It seems as if we have almost caught up to today, but the R5 is now the previous generation. An all new car needed to be developed as the R5 regulations succeeded those of S2000, the WRC2 championship replacing the SWRC and followed the same calendar and stages of the WRC.
It seems as if we have almost caught up to today, but the R5 is now the previous generation. An all new car needed to be developed as the R5 regulations succeeded those of S2000, the WRC2 championship replacing the SWRC and followed the same calendar and stages of the WRC.
Škoda built the Fabia R5 we a specially designed 1.6 litre turbocharged engine which produced 282 hp and 420 nm of torque. Four wheel drive was of course present and a rally spec McPherson suspension system with a five speed sequential gearbox.
The new R5 Fabia was competitive straight away and placed second overall at the car’s first event in Portugal in 2015 and Škoda won the WRC2 Teams titles in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. Driver’s titles in all of those years and 2019 and 2021 too.
During that time the R5 evolved into the R5 Evo and was renamed to the Fabia Rally 2 Evo due to another rule change.
Škoda built more than 450 third generation Fabia rally cars, including both the R5 and the Rally 2 Evo. This made it the most successful Škoda rally car ever and the best selling one too.
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