The ŠKODA MOTORSPORT customer programme has grown bigger over the last year. The overall number of ŠKODA FABIA R5 rally cars leaving the gates of the factory in Mladá Boleslav reached 300, including dozens of upgraded FABIA R5 evo models, which ŠKODA started supplying to its customers last summer. This confirmed the FABIA R5’s position as the world’s bestseller and made it by far the most successful rally car in its class. Nothing is likely to change about that in the coming years.
“Just as in previous seasons, we will continue working on the current car in the coming years, to keep it competitive in the future. We are discussing various possible improvements, but the FABIA R5 evo will continue in its current form for at least two seasons. When the time comes for a new model, we will start working on it, but that time hasn’t come yet,” disclosed ŠKODA Motorsport boss, Michal Hrabánek.
Data from 1st April 2015 through 31st December 2019
ŠKODA Motorsport surpassed its competition not only in the number of cars sold, but, even more importantly, in their success. Since it was introduced in 2015, rally drivers using the FABIA R5 have started to dominate rally championships around the world. In the last year, they’ve claimed the world and European titles, 24 national championships and have also won several regional or junior series. After five years of competition, the ŠKODA FABIA R5 took its 1,000th victory.
The crews themselves particularly praise the car’s total mechanical reliability, exceptional durability even on the toughest tracks (like that of the Turkish rally) as well as the easy control and competitive speed in any conditions. Read the most interesting stories from last year’s champions, including the ways that the ŠKODA FABIA R5 helped them.
Data from 1st April 2015 through 31st December 2019
More than a hundred customer teams and three hundred cars – that’s not just great success, but also a great commitment when it comes to customer care. Our customers need a regular supply of spare parts, inspections and rebuilds of engines and gearboxes, and also help with setting the cars up for individual rallies, with support from ŠKODA Motorsport engineers right in the service area. That’s one of the reasons for this year’s change of strategy, which will, from now on, focus more on support for the customer teams and hopeful young drivers.
“No other brand can boast taking four different drivers to the world championship title in the last four years. After last year’s extremely successful season, our collection of titles is complete and we can focus on areas that require our attention. We need to ensure that our customers have spare parts available when they need them and receive the best possible support, which is a real challenge, considering the number of cars we’ve sold,” explains Hrabánek.
