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ŠKODA will be treating visitors to this year’s Essen Motor Show in Germany with the ŠKODA Fabia R 5 rally car concept.
“ŠKODA plans to continue growing over the coming years with new models, focusing both on functional aspects and emotion,” says Dr. Frank Welsch, ŠKODA Board Member for Technical Development.
“Our vehicles in Essen underpin this claim. One particular highlight is the ŠKODA Fabia R 5 Concept Car, which gives a first insight into our new rally car. The concept is based on the new ŠKODA Fabia, which demonstrates more emotion than ever before, in both the hatchback and estate versions,” said Welsch.
“The world premiere of the Fabia R 5 Concept Car gives an insight into the future of rallying at ŠKODA,” said ŠKODA Motorsport Director Michal Hrabánek.
“The Fabia R 5 is scheduled to be homologated by mid-2015.”
In keeping with FIA regulations, the new racing car is powered by a 1.6-litre turbo engine. The new car also features a sequential, five-speed gearbox and MacPherson struts. The weight will, in accordance with the regulations, be at least 1,230 kilograms. A number of top ŠKODA drivers were also involved in the development of the new Fabia R 5. No further details regarding the car’s power output have been released but according to the Czech manufacturer, a number of customer racing teams have already shown huge interest in the new rally car.
The 2014 rally season, which has just drawn to an end, saw ŠKODA and the Fabia Super 2000 achieve a hat-trick of titles in the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC). On top of this, ŠKODA also won the Drivers’ title in the FIA European Rally Championship and a further five national championships. These and the huge amount of success already achieved in previous years make the ŠKODA Fabia Super 2000 project, which was launched in 2009, the most successful project in the company’s motorsport history, which now spans 113 years.
The Essen Motor Show is the largest trade fair for tuning, motorsport and sporty production vehicles in Germany. It takes place from 29 November to 7 December 2014.
