Škoda Auto starts testing Fabia Super 2000

Škoda Auto starts testing Fabia Super 2000
2/11/2008

Škoda Auto has started testing the first prototype of the Škoda Fabia Super 2000 today. Designed to be used in the Super 2000 category, the vehicle is based on the second-generation Fabia.

In compliance with the FIA regulations, the vehicle is equipped with a two-litre atmospheric four-cylinder petrol engine, a six-speed sequential transmission and a four-wheel drive system with three mechanical differentials.

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Commenting on the occasion, Dr. Eckhard Scholz, Škoda Auto Board Member responsible for technological development, said: "We are glad to have started testing the Fabia Super 2000. This year we are planning to optimise and certify the vehicle so that we can use it on both national and international levels. When exactly will the vehicle be released for competition use will depend on the achieved progress, relevant test results and the final certification. Then we are also planning to offer the vehicle to private teams. Based on a customer service arrangement, further development work on the vehicle will be done in close cooperation with our importers worldwide".

Martin Lauer, Head of Corporate Communications, adds: "The history of over hundred years of involvement in motorsport is unique, and we are proud to be able to continue the success story with the Fabia Super 2000. We believe that the vehicle will become a successful part of this tradition, because car racing is popular all over the world and offers great opportunities to promote our products".

Skoda moves to Super 2000

In a pair of announcements issued today (Wednesday), Skoda has announced that the Red Bull Skoda team will not take part in the 2007 FIA World Rally Championship and that the company will instead spend the year developing a Super 2000 variant of the new Fabia, to be launched next year.

The Skoda Board of Directors has approved a plan to develop the Super 2000 Fabia throughout 2007 with a view to it being introduced at a later date. It sees Super 2000 as an attractive category of the sport and aims to produce a car which will be attractive to privateers or up and coming talents, both nationally and internationally.

Skoda becomes the fifth manufacturer to commit to Super 2000, which from 2007 will run alongside Group N in the production car World Rally Championship. Cars from Fiat and Toyota have already been homologated and appeared on the WRC, notably Alister McRae's debut of the Toyota Corolla S20000R on the recent Wales Rally GB, setting several fastest Group N stage times.

Examples from Volkswagen and Peugeot are expected to be homologated in 1 January 2007 while Renault also developed one car but this project has been shelved as the company concentrates on Formula One. There is also a Lada S2000 running in its native land but there is no indication of whether this will reach international competition.

Ford has also recently confirmed it is looking into developing a S2000 car for the privateer market, although it stressed it was no more than a feasibility study at this stage.

The withdrawal of the Red Bull Skoda team from the WRC means that Czech driver Jan Kopecky will fly the Skoda flag in the 2007 WRC, with continued support from the manufacturer. However, it also means that at the moment, Harri Rovanpera and Andreas Aigner are without a drive. Red Bull has confirmed that it is seeking a position for Aigner but no mention is made in the team statements about Rovanpera.

-WRC.com

Toyota's back in the WRC in the S2000 category

The FIA confirmed last Friday (24 November) that the Toyota Corolla-based Super 2000 car has been homologated and will therefore be available for competition on Wales Rally GB, where Alister McRae has been entered in an example.



Delays in the homologation application have occurred due to a variety of reasons, not least the newness of the S2000 formula. These led to delays in official acceptance of the car since it was first presented to the FIA in the summer. However, local rules had allowed the car to compete since early 2005 in its native country.



McRae's car is being run on the Wales Rally GB by RED and is the first Super 2000 to run on an FIA World Rally Championship event in Central Europe, although two Fiat Punto Super 2000 cars took part in Turkey. From the start of 2007, Super 2000 cars will be eligible to compete in the Production car World Rally Championship, competing against the Mitsubishis and the Subarus.

McRae completed a two-day test of the Corolla and said he was pleased with the outcome, working to adapt the car's set-up to suit Welsh forests as opposed to blind rallying found in South Africa. He and the team will be looking to assess the car's competitiveness against the Group N runners, including the British Rally Championship field and several P-WRC regulars.

-FIA WRC

Super 2000s Race at Condroz

In an unusual rally-long battle at the Condroz Rally in Belgium this weekend, Bryan Bouffier and Freddy Loix enjoyed a remarkable fight - for the honour of fastest zero car.

Armed with the latest Super 2000 cars - respectively the prototype Peugeot 207 RCup and the VW Polo S2000 on its first appearance outside South Africa, these cars provided more than just enjoyment for the drivers and spectators. This was an opportunity for the FIA's newly-formed Permanent Bureau (announced at the World Motor Sport Council meeting on 18 October) to further study the relative performances of the Super 2000 and Group N specifications of car. Both Super 2000 and Group N will be eligible for the 2007 FIA Production car World Rally Championship.

Of the two Super 2000 cars, the Polo driven by veteran Belgian driver Freddy Loix was usually quicker than the 207 driven by the Frenchman, who had not competed on these stages before. Originally it was hoped that Loix would make the competition debut for the Polo in Europe but last-minute homologation delays prevented this from happening. The Peugeot had always been scheduled to appear in actual competition after 1st January 2007.

On virtually every stage of the rally, the quickest Group N was the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX of former J-WRC driver Larry Cols. This gave a steady yardstick to compare the relative performance of the heavier turbocharged Group N cars and the lighter, normally aspirated Super 2000s.

As it transpired, stage times recorded by the organisers for the zero cars indicated a remarkable similarity between the cars of Loix and Cols, both experienced over the stages. A spokesman for Rene Georges, the company running Loix' Polo, admitted the team had an advantage over Cols, in that they were permitted longer service intervals. He also said that as it had only received the car three weeks prior to the event and had one day useful testing, he felt that there was still potential to come but that the company was pleasantly surprised that the car was so competitive.

Unusual in another respect, the Condroz organisers allowed World Rally Cars to run on an FIA regional championship event, and these cars took the top three places, headed by Francois Duval in a Skoda Fabia WRC.

-WRC.com

Alister McRae for Rally GB

Hot off the heels of the announcement that British team RED is to become the worldwide agent for the Toyota Super 2000 rally car, the team has announced that Alister McRae will drive the car on this season's finale, Wales Rally GB.

McRae will give the car its competition debut outside South Africa, where it has already proved successful, with Serge Damseaux winning the last round of the South African Rally Championship.



McRae has already been announced as development driver for RED as it moves the Toyota's gravel development forward and begins to assess the car for tarmac applications. He's also driven the car in South Africa and is looking forward to gauging its performance against both Group N and Super 1600 machinery.

"In Group N, you tend to drive to the car's limits but the Super 2000 cars need to be driven harder, with more commitment. It will be good to see how the car compares in terms of pace with the Group N cars. I think they [British Rally Championship drivers] will be as quick as the Production car World Rally Championship drivers on home soil."

Rally GB is the final round of the Junior World Rally Championship but is not a round of the P-WRC. However, as the final round of the British Rally Championship, a strong Group N entry is expected.

"Some of my best results have come on Rally GB," said McRae "And to be out there this year in a car which is new to the WRC is very exciting." Super 2000 cars will run in class N4 of the WRC from next year and drivers will score points for the Production car World Rally Championship.

-WRC.com