Rally2 (ex-R5) News

[Kenneth]

As for being "difficult to jump into", how about Lappi and Suninen jumping into the car and winning instantly?

Difficult doesn't mean impossible. And both of them are pretty experienced drivers, which probably helped.

[Mirek]

The Polo R5 was according to many engineers/mechanics a bit like a "small WRC", it's a fantastic car, there's a lot to play with, but it has to be set up properly. Not everyone can jump in and be fast with it, while the Fabia has the reputation of being a much easier car to drive. Seeing the numbers it's clear which car is most successful. The Fabia winning many national events and championships all around the world. At Skoda Motorsport, it's more about having a profitable business with many customers rather than having a works team winning championships. It would make sense to stick with their philosophy and build another "user-friendly" car where it's easier for customers to extract the potential of the car.

BTW as the rumors say, Skoda's going to spend a whole week doing development tests in the Ypres region. They're really taking it everywhere.

I dare to say Polo was probably not that difficult car to drive in its nature but a rather difficult (or complex) car to properly set and service.

But to me it's quite amazing that after several years of no active testing, the car can still win its class in WRC. We must remember that the factory stopped supporting the car right as it was released. There has been some updates but likely the development budget has been relatively small.

I somewhat disagree. There was quite a number of updates inlcuding 4 jokers (last one in July 2021), some development was shared with Škoda. You can find them here, the name of the document is "2022 - Complete List of Homologated Vehicles with Extensions - Dec. 2021": https://www.fia.com/regulation/category/760

on a curious side, they reported fiesta mk2 as to have huge potential, but no feeling at all. they said you have to trust the car a lot, something they can't do, and nearly impossible for a driver doing few days in the car a year.

IMHO Fiesta was homologated way too early when it was not fully developed.

[RS]

We can all agree the Polo is quick, although it may soon be surpassed by other manufacturers bringing new cars or further developing their current ones.

So what is the reason that relatively few people use them on the international stage? Is it about ongoing works support? Not just with jokers but I mean engineering and parts support on events. Skoda have made a point of having a service truck at WRC and some ERC events and will also supply engineers to help with setup and servicing. I wonder whether this is one reason Gryazin decided to join up with Toksport? I think he said something to that effect but i can’t remember where i heard it.

[RS]

First day of a five day test for Skoda in Ypres Region. Today they are testing in Wervik with Jan Kopecky. They are testing latest prototype (PT3) of the new Fabia R2.

Do you know who else will drive this week? I presume Meeke but obviously not Mikkelsen or Lindholm who are both in Sweden.

[PLuto]

We can all agree the Polo is quick, although it may soon be surpassed by other manufacturers bringing new cars or further developing their current ones.

So what is the reason that relatively few people use them on the international stage? Is it about ongoing works support? Not just with jokers but I mean engineering and parts support on events. Skoda have made a point of having a service truck at WRC and some ERC events and will also supply engineers to help with setup and servicing. I wonder whether this is one reason Gryazin decided to join up with Toksport? I think he said something to that effect but i can’t remember where i heard it.

I will start from end - I think Gryazin left Polo mainly because there is no more development. So for future it is better to change the brand. I think that biggest problem for Polo was difficulty of finding correct setup and also price for running the car...

[wyler]

IMHO Fiesta was homologated way too early when it was not fully developed.

yeah, definitely it lacks something, but i'm just reporting drivers' impressions, anything can be!

[wwbroe]

Do you know who else will drive this week? I presume Meeke but obviously not Mikkelsen or Lindholm who are both in Sweden.

Kopecky will do two days, Meeke also and friday it will be Loix testing the car.

[RS]

Kopecky will do two days, Meeke also and friday it will be Loix testing the car.

Thanks.. i did wonder if Freddy would put in an appearance as he has been involved with testing of the Fabia S2000 and Fabia R5 previously.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

The Rally2 Fiesta was largely developed by the guy who was Ogier's engineer while he was at M-Sport.

But they didnt do nearly as much testing as Skoda and VW before releasing it. There could be many reasons for this but I suspect some over-confidence after the success of the Fiesta R5. Plus those drivers that came and tried it all said it was amazing.

[Eric_B]

The Rally2 Fiesta was largely developed by the guy who was Ogier's engineer while he was at M-Sport.

But they didnt do nearly as much testing as Skoda and VW before releasing it. There could be many reasons for this but I suspect some over-confidence after the success of the Fiesta R5. Plus those drivers that came and tried it all said it was amazing.

Development was very short and not so good. They need to work on it much more. It was too early to homologate the car and start in Estonia, when it was not ready. Also setup was disaster.