History

1906 – 1935
The brand switched from motorcycle racing to car racing in 1906. The first car was the Voituretta A, a two-seater equipped with a two-cylinder V-twin liquid engine. Among the prominent personalities of motorsport at that time was the designer and racer Ing. Otto Hieronimus who joined the car factory in 1907. The first successes were not long in coming and the cars of the Mladá Boleslav brand soon began to take the top places in hill climb races. Another talented driver was major shareholder of the company Count Kolowrat, the popular "Saša". Among other things, this rider was successful in Alpine riding. He won the more than 2500 km long race in the very first year. 

The year 1925 was marked by the merger of L&K with Škoda Works in Pilsen. This connection not only helped the company financially, but also began the necessary modernisation. A significant success after this merger was the 3rd place in their category of the Komár/Houšt' crew, which they managed to win in 1935 with a Škoda RAPID Six in the 1000 miles of Czechoslovakia race.

1936 – 1968
The Škoda Popular Sport is undoubtedly one of the most significant racing specials introduced before the World War II. With this car the carmaker took part for the first time in one of Europe's most important rallies, the legendary Rallye Monte-Carlo. And it certainly didn't embarrass itself during the race. The Pohl/Hausman crew took a remarkable 2nd place in their class, which provoked a huge response from the public. The carmaker decided to introduce the limited edition Škoda POPULAR Monte Carlo, which quickly won the right kind of admiration for its elegance.

The company also became involved in motorsport after the Second World War with several important cars. The Bobek/Netušil crew drove the Škoda Sport to the start of one of the world's toughest races, the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1950, and in 1961 the Keinänen/Eklund crew drove the Octavia Touring Sport to the Rallye Monte-Carlo, where they won their class and finished sixth overall and crews with Octavia cars were also in the two following years. The Škoda 1000 MB was also a ground-breaking innovation in the 1960s, introducing a completely new technological approach. It had rear-wheel drive and an engine behind the rear axle.

1969 – 1981
In 1974, the Škoda 200 RS racing car was introduced and the abbreviation ''RS'' was used for the first time, behind which the term ''Rallye Sport'' is hidden. It is this abbreviation that is still used on production cars today. More famous, however, is its successor, the Škoda 130 RS, produced in smaller series for customers. The biggest competition success is the triumph of the Blahna/Hlávka and Zapadlo/Motal crews in the 13-star class at the 1977 Rallye Monte-Carlo. Interestingly, special design editions of the Fabia S2000 and Fabia Rally2 were created based on the design used in this race. This highly collectible car was also successful on the circuits, where it won the European Touring Car Championship in 1981. After the 1984 season, other successful rear-engined cars took up the baton, first the Group B Škoda 130 LR specials, later the Škoda 130 L/A.

1991 – 2008
The year 1991 was a significant one, both for Škoda Auto, which became part of the Volkswagen Group, and for Škoda Motorsport, which celebrated a lot of victories. The Pavel Sibera/Petr Gross crew won the Rallye Monte-Carlo in international competition and took the first place in their A5 class with the Škoda Favorit 136L. The crew continued to score points in this event in the following 3 years, winning their class each time. However, this was not the only success, in 1994 crews won the FIA World Rally Cup in the category of cars with an engine capacity of less than two litres and one driven axle.

After the Favorit era came the Felicia Kit Car and Octavia Kit Car, which is regarded as the imaginary final step towards the Škoda Octavia WRC project with which Škoda Motorsport entered the top category of the World Rally Championship (WRC) for the first time. Although the car was relatively robust for its class, it stood out for its reliability and strength, which made it fully competitive on the international stage. One of its greatest successes was the third place in the 2001 Safari Rally, with factory driver Armin Schwarz behind the wheel. In 2002 the Škoda Octavia WRC entered all 14 rounds of the World Rally Championship for the first time. Its successor was the Škoda Fabia WRC, which was presented to the public in Geneva in 2003. After the 2005 season, this car ended the chapter of Škoda Motorsport's participation in the top category of the World Rally Championship.

2009 – 2015

2009 was a breakthrough year for the Mladá Boleslav team, when the Škoda Fabia S2000 project, based on the second generation Fabia, was started. With this project, Škoda Motorsport entered the World Rally Championship (PWRC category) and the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) for the first time. At the same time it launched a modern customer programme that is undoubtedly one of the most successful ones to date. Customers were sold 63 Fabia S2000 racing specials, with which they managed to win 50 national and international titles. The factory team was also very successful at this period, thanks to the trio of Juho Hänninen, Jan Kopecký and Esappeka Lappi. Although the Škoda Fabia S2000 set the bar very high with its achievements, its successor, the Škoda Fabia R5, managed to surpass it handily and went down in history as the most successful project ever.

2015 – 2022

In 2015, the flagship of the Mladá Boleslav-based carmaker's sporting activities was the Škoda Fabia Rally2. With this car, Škoda Motorsport has already won the manufacturer's title in the World Rally Championship five times in the WRC 2 (2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018) and in the WRC 2 Pro categories (2019). Success in the World Rally Championship has also been recorded by factory crews that have won the WRC 2 World Championship title, namely Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (2016), Pontus Tidemand/Jonas Andersson (2017) and Jan Kopecký/Pavel Dresler (2018). Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen crew also continued their successful title quest in 2019, winning the WRC 2 Pro title and making Kalle the youngest ever World Champion.

Other equally significant successes have been achieved by the factory team in the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC). Participation here took place from 2015 to 2017 and each year the season was ended with a title for both the crew and team.

Škoda Motorsport's participation in the Czech Rally Championship also played an important role. Here, Jan Kopecký and his co-driver Pavel Dresler have managed to win the Czech Rally Championship title five times in a row with the Škoda Fabia Rally2 since 2015.

After these extremely successful seasons, Škoda Motorsport decided, in 2020, to focus its attention on the customers and support them in their fight for further valuable victories. Škoda Motorsport established a close cooperation with the Toksport WRT team in 2021, and it continues until today. The support consists primarily of providing experienced Škoda Motorsport mechanics and engineers to support this customer team and provide them with a full technical support. In 2021, Toksport was able to win the WRC2 title thanks to Andreas Mikkelsen. In the same year, he also became European Champion (ERC) and Toksport WRT won the team title. In 2022, this customer team, supported by Škoda Motorsport, fought to win the WRC2 title and was successful again. Emil Linhdolm became the overall and junior world champion in this category and Toksport WRT won the team title.

However, all teams competing in the World Rally Championship were able to utilise the support of the factory team. In addition to the recommended car set-up for each event, Škoda Motorsport offered the opportunity to use its very own support truck equipped with spare parts, which was prepared at selected WRC events.

In 2021, the Škoda Motorsport team began testing a new car - the Škoda Fabia RS Rally2. The test programme included thousands of kilometres driven in the most varied conditions. The main target was to once again develop a safe, durable and fast car that would be competitive, building on the successful Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo project. This all-new car was first unveiled at the world premiere in June 2022 and made its first start in the autumn of the same year.