› Reigning WRC2 champion Andreas Mikkelsen and co-driver Torstein Eriksen win gravel event in Germany with first ŠKODA FABIA RS Rally2 delivered to a customer team
› Michal Hrabánek, Head of ŠKODA Motorsport: “The victory is a really deserved result for our whole team.“
› Additionally, four ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo and ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 finish inside top 10 at the European Rally Trophy finale in Saxony
Boxberg (GER), 7 November 2022 – Successful competition debut for the ŠKODA FABIA RS Rally2: With Norwegians Andreas Mikkelsen driving and Torstein Eriksen reading the notes, the latest rally car out of Mladá Boleslav finished the all-gravel Lausitz-Rallye in Germany with a convincing victory.
The very first customer spec ŠKODA FABIA RS Rally2 leaving the halls of ŠKODA Motorsport went to Toksport WRT. The Germany based team usually runs ŠKODA cars in the WRC2 category of the FIA World Rally Championship. As a kind of an extended shakedown, Toksport WRT sent the latest addition to their fleet to Lausitz-Rallye, one of the most demanding events in central Europe with gravel stages. And the all-new ŠKODA FABIA RS Rally2 delivered. Reigning WRC2 champion Andreas Mikkelsen and co-driver Torstein Eriksen won the one-day event by more than 20 seconds.
“The first rally for the new ŠKODA FABIA RS Rally2 is over. Andreas and Torstein won; the victory is a really deserved result for whole team of ŠKODA Motorsport. I want to thank all our team members and all the people who are supporting us.”
Michal Hrabánek, Head of ŠKODA Motorsport
Andreas Mikkelsen was full of praise for the completely newly developed Rally2 car from Mladá Boleslav. “We had a great day. The ŠKODA FABIA RS Rally2 was amazing,” he said after celebrating the victory. “When you do a rally, it is always different to testing. We did some changes during the rally and the car just got better and better. Obviously, it is special to score the first win with the ŠKODA FABIA RS Rally2.” Toksport WRT team principal Serkan Duru already looked ahead: “We will build the future on this victory.”
Lausitz-Rallye, counting as finale towards the 2022 European Rally Trophy (ERT), was run on service roads of former or even still active opencast lignite mining sites close to the border between Germany and Poland. Heavy rains in the days before the start caused lots of standing water and made the stages extremely soft, resulting in deep ruts during the event. But especially the customer teams of ŠKODA Motorsport stood up to the challenge. Additionally to the overall victory by the all-new ŠKODA FABIA RS Rally2, four ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo and ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 finished inside the top 10. Highest placed was an Eurosol Racing Team car. Last year’s winners, multiple German champion Matthias Kahle and co-driver Christian Dörr, climbed onto the podium as third overall followed by Czech crew Adam Březík/Ondřej Krajča of Samohýl ŠKODA Team and Estonians Raul Jeets/Andrus Toom of team Sports Racing Technology.
Result Lausitz-Rallye
| 1. | Mikkelsen/Eriksen (NOR), ŠKODA FABIA RS Rally2 | 1:24:02.4 hrs |
| 2. | Kristensen/Johansson (SWE/SWE), Hyundai i20 N Rally2 | +21.6 sec |
| 3. | Kahle/Dörr (GER/GER), ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo | +2:44.9 min |
| 4. | Březík/Krajča (CZE/CZE), ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 | +3:45.2 min |
| 5. | Jeets/Toom (EST/EST), ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo | +4:13.3 min |
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