What a looker! Škoda recently released images of the Fabia R5 Rally Car which has been homologated by FIA. This new machine is obviously based on the third-generation Fabia and it replaces the Fabia Super 2000. Irish rally fans will remember the Fabia S2000 from the 2014 ERC Circuit of Ireland Rally when Fabia S2000s took both second position and the overall event win driven by Fin, Esapekka Lappi. Speaking about the new Fabia R5 One of Ireland’s top Rally drivers Robert Barrable said, “ŠKODA have built some excellent rally cars over the years the Fabia S2000 brought me great success. I’m looking forward to testing the new Fabia R5 later this year and putting a programme together for next year.”
Unlike the road-going Fabia which adopts a front-wheel drive layout, the new Fabia R5 comes with a four-wheel drive setup and is powered by a four-cylinder, 1.6-liter turbocharged high octane petrol engine developing a 265bhp sent to both axles through a five-speed sequential gearbox. As per FIA regulations, the rally car has a minimum weight of 1,230 kg and Skoda’s engineers have fitted it with McPherson struts. Prior to receiving homologation, ŠKODA conducted approximately 10,000 km of testing across a wide range of roads from Greece to the Arctic Region of Finland ensuring all weather conditions were challenged. The R5 proved immense and its now ready for competition.
