That's not true.
First Fabia R2 had little to do with Škoda. It was private project of Impromat Motorsport for which Škoda gave some limited support and granted FIA homologation.
Second thing is that you can't ignore the whole history of Škoda Motorsport which was all about lower tier cars until Octavia WRC. Especially in 70'-90' period I dare to say that Škoda built some of the very best lower tier cars in the world.