motorsport

Unique services 

Pilots and teams from all over the world rely
on the rally cars from Mladá Boleslav

FABIA RALLY2 IN NUMBERS

7,624

starts of customer crews in a total of 65 countries

2,672

podium placements

1,128

category victories 

363

FABIA Rally2 cars sold

131

teams bought the special

U

ore than 360 FABIA Rally2 specials reliably serve their rally teams on five continents. However, ŠKODA Motorsport’s customer programme not only focuses on the actual sales but also includes a whole range of support and globally unique services. The 15-member team is available to customers 24 hours a day, often maintaining very personal relationships. After all, their care plays as much of a role in the results of the most successful Rally2 race car as its quality and reliability. More than half of the customers are teams operating several cars and renting them, too. “These are really big clients with whom we have relationships spanning many years. The biggest of them has bought over 20 FABIA Rally2 racing specials. The second group consists of drivers with one car who take care of their racing special themselves and participate in national or local championships”, is how David Jareš, EM/5 – Commercial Programme, describes the customers.

Customer care is based on personal relationships. Every specialist takes care of “their” teams and knows their history and what is happening in their region. Communication most often takes place via WhatsApp: The clients simply record a video or take a picture of what they need to consult on or require help with. And the people in Mladá Boleslav address everything at once, for example by sending spare parts on the same day. What is also unique is the spare parts catalogue itself, which the ŠKODA Motorsport team has developed. It is an application that displays the entire car disassembled to the last screw; the customer just marks the required part and can order it. The catalogue is also used as a guide with technical diagrams or tightening torques of screw connections. “It is a unique application that no one else offers at a similar level”, Jareš adds. Another valued service is consultations on how to modify the car before each competition. Thanks to a comprehensive database of rallies that the factory team or its technicians have participated in, the Motorsport specialists can perform analyses of tracks and special stages to provide customers with the recommended settings for shock absorbers, differentials and transmissions. The drivers do not have to start from scratch, and they have a point that they can continue from; they just have to adjust the settings during the tests before each competition. Štěpán Vorlíček

Sérgio Dinis

ŠKODA Motorsport technician

The first step when preparing for a rally is to make an analysis based on information from the past so that we know what might be waiting for us. With these data and technical regulations, our team will fine-tune the most suitable car settings for the conditions in question. On-site activities then include the monitoring of mechanics at work and the crew synergies – the goal is to observe how their cooperation could be made more effective. Based on the analysis, we suggest to the crew which tyres to choose or provide recommendations on braking and shifting at the optimal revs.

GÉRALD VINCENTI

PVI RACING TEAM

We’ve been using the ŠKODA Motorsport Customer Programme for over two years and have been very satisfied from the start. Cooperation with the Sales department works absolutely smoothly. Primarily, we value the fact that they can promptly pass our questions onto the technicians, who answer them promptly. And it is this readiness and flexibility that I consider the strongest aspect of the ŠKODA Motorsport Customer Programme. I believe that other customers see it that way, too. It’s really pleasant to work with such professionals.

Brisk pace, gravel and long jumps

After a break of several months, the carousel of the World Rally Championship kicked off, which took place in Estonia between 4 and 6 September. The local tracks are known for their high speed and technical complexity. Here, the gravel offers many jumps, and the cars can fly a distance of 40 metres. The problem, however, is the deep ruts with a solid base, which form only after the first cars have passed. All this awaited the crews during 233 kilometres divided into three days and 17 special stages. A total of nine customer crews set out on the Estonian track with their FABIA Rally2 or FABIA Rally2 evo racers. The former ŠKODA fact ory driver Pontus Tidemand scored in the WRC 2, intended for factory and professional teams, by taking third place, 1:21.7 behind Adrien Fourmaux with a Ford after a close chase. The next ŠKODA was driven by the Norwegian Eyvind Brynildsen, who placed fourth with an interval of a mere 2.1 seconds. In the WRC 3 category intended for private teams, a podium position was secured by home racer Egon Kaur in his FABIA Rally2 evo, who placed third. Štěpán Vorlíček