ŠKODA Motorsport starts delivery of new rally car ŠKODA FABIA R5 evo

The new ŠKODA FABIA R5 evo already had a successful competition debut in the hands of factory teams Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen and Jan Kopecký/Pavel Dresler. ŠKODA Motorsport scored double victories in the WRC 2 Pro category at the 2019 FIA World Rally Championship rounds in Portugal and Sardinia. Now the new rally car from Mladá Boleslavis ready to be delivered to the customers of ŠKODA Motorsport, too.
 
ŠKODA Motorsport boss Michal Hrabánekemphasizes: “The improved ŠKODA FABIA R5 evo is a follow-up of our successful R5 project. After an extended test program under challenging conditions we had a successful and promising start. During the first rallies, we encountered no technical issues at all and achieved two double victories in the WRC 2 Pro category of the World Rally Championship. Now we start to deliver the very reliable and competitive rally car to our customers.” Hrabánek adds: “We are now working hard to manage the high demand of the new ŠKODA FABIA R5 evo and to build as many cars as possible for our customers. Before we delivered the first customer cars, we made sure to establish a sustainable supply chain for the necessary spare parts.”
 
The updated ŠKODA FABIA R5 adopts key design elements of the 2019 ŠKODA FABIA road car such as the headlights and a shaped vehicle front, at the same time getting important technical improvements. The optimizationhas touched technical key components. The rally car features improved engine performance and reliability in comparison with the current version. The 1.6-litre turbo charged engine was upgraded improving power output and engine response.  
 
First ŠKODA FABIA R5 evo delivered to Team Toni Gardemeister Services (TGS)
Team Toni Gardemeister Services (TGS)was the first customer team to receive a ŠKODA FABIA R5 evo from Šárka Králová (responsible for customer program at ŠKODA Motorsport) in Mladá Boleslav. Toni Gardemeister is looking forward to the first event with the new car: “I had successful rallies with the ŠKODA FABIA S2000 and the ŠKODA FABIA R5, I am happy about the good cooperation with ŠKODA Motorsport and proud to be the first customer team to receive the new ŠKODA FABIA R5 evo!”
 
Toni Gardemeister, TGS Worldwide and ŠKODA have been a successful combination already in the past. From 2002 to 2004, Gardemeister was competing as a factory driver for ŠKODA Motorsport in the FIA World Rally Championship with ŠKODA OCTAVIA WRC and ŠKODA FABIA WRC, respectively. In 2011, he drove a ŠKODA FABIA S2000, operated by his own team, Toni Gardemeister Services (TGS), in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC). With a ŠKODA FABIA R5 from TGS, current ŠKODA works driver Kalle Rovanperä achieved his first successes in 2017.
 
The car will be competing with promising Finn Eerik Pietarinen at the wheel at the upcoming Rally Finland (01/08/–04/08/2019),where he is nominated to score points in the WRC 2 Pro category by the SKODA Motorsport team.
 
The calendar of the 2019 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC 2 Pro)
 
Event                                        Date     
                                   
Monte-Carlo                               24/01/–27/01/2019
Sweden                                    14/02/–17/02/2019
Mexico                                      07/03/–10/03/2019
France                                      28/03/–31/03/2019
Argentina                                  25/04/–28/04/2019
Chile                                        09/05/–12/05/2019
Portugal                                    30/05/–02/06/2019
Italy                                          13/06/–16/06/2019
Finland                                     01/08/–04/08/2019
Germany                                   22/08/–25/08/2019
Turkey                                      12/09/–15/09/2019
Great Britain                              03/10/–06/10/2019
Spain                                        24/10/–27/10/2019
Australia                                    14/11/–17/11/2019