Å kodaAuto ANNUAL REPORT 2003 - Skoda Auto

Škoda MotorsportThe Volkswagen Group brands have been reorganising their strategic motorsport involvement over the past year.The Škoda brand will continue its rally activities in line with its reputation, experience and long tradition.The participation of the Škoda Motorsport team in the WRC Elite category confirms the technical quality and skill ofŠkoda Auto as a manufacturer of valuable, reliable and robust vehicles. The experience and inspiration gained in thedevelopment of racing cars for extreme conditions are later applied on in the further development of series models.The Škoda Fabia WRC, the latest fruit of the collaboration between the designers from Škoda Auto TechnicalDevelopment and the specialists and engineers from the Škoda Motorsport team, was put on show at the GenevaMotor Show.Škoda Motorsport took part in allfourteen races staged in the 2003season of the FIA World RallyChampionship. The teamnominated for this season wasmade up of the French pair DidierAuriol/Denis Giraudet and theFinnish duo Toni Gardemeister/Paavo Lukander. The teamscompleted the first half of the racesin the Škoda Octavia. However, atthe start of the year, they were alsoinvaluable when collaborating onthe development of the new ŠkodaFabia WRC car.In the Czech Championship, theCzech Škoda Matador teamfeaturing the driver Jan Kopeckýand co-driver Filip Schovánek wereprovided with support from thefactory and the latest version of theOctavia WRC model.In the 2003 season the ŠkodaMotorsport team scored 23 pointsto place 5th in the manufacturers’world championship. The crew ofToni Gardemeister/Paavo Lukandermade 12th place with 9 points inthe drivers’ championship. DidierAuriol together with co-driver DenisGiraudet finished in 13th place with4 points. Jan Kopecký and FilipSchovánek came third in the finalCzech Championship standings.Škoda Fabia WRCThe aim of the Škoda Fabia WRCproject was to increase thecompetitiveness of this racing car.The Škoda Fabia WRC is based onthe Fabia model. It incorporates allmodifications permitted for WRCvehicles under the FIA rules. TheFabia WRC made its first start in theWorld Championship in the Rallyof Germany.31