Sardinia Offers New Challenge For Both Škoda Motorsport And All Wrc Teams

[ColinD]

Škoda Motorsport prepares to tackle unknown WRC event

Toni Gardemeister and Armin Schwarz confident after good test

New homologation allows technical advances for Fabia WRC



Škoda Motorsport, along with the rest of the World Rally Championship teams, ventures into the unknown as it prepares for Rally of Italy – Sardinia (October 1-3) for this is the first time the WRC has set foot on the Italian island in its 31-year history.



The event replaces the traditional Sanremo Rally and will represent a new departure for the Italian qualifying round. Sanremo was Italy’s WRC event for 30 years, initially a mixture of asphalt and gravel but in recent years exclusively on asphalt. Sardinia will be run entirely on gravel and teams will not know precisely what lies in store for them. The new event has its origins in the European Rally Championship Costa Smeralda Rally although the 2004 event is not run on the same roads that would be familiar to former competitors from that time.



The two Škoda Fabias that will be entered in Sardinia will feature some technical advances over the car that contested Rally GB two weeks ago. Thanks to the FIA giving Škoda Motorsport a dispensation for a two-stage homologation, the team has taken the opportunity to make some new developments that should allow the Fabia WRC to take a further step forward toward achieving its true performance potential.



Head of Škoda Motorsport, Martin Muehlmeier, said: “The FIA has granted us the opportunity to make a limited homologation and the technical advances we have built into the car should allow us to make another step forward. If we have the same conditions for the rally that we had for testing then I think we can see another good indication of our car’s performance.”



Toni Gardemeister said: “From what we saw in testing I think that we can be as close to the leading cars as we saw in Finland. I have been to Sardinia once before but the Costa Smeralda Rally was run further west than this new event. I’m probably not the best person to ask for advice because I spun twice and rolled the car in the first seven kilometres!”



Armin Schwarz said: “I have never been to Sardinia before so I am very much looking forward to it. It is always nice to go to new places. We had a good test there at the beginning of September and I am quite confident that we have a good set up for the roads which are very sandy.“





Technical news:



Because Škoda Motorsport is not registered for the 2004 World Rally Championship it has not been able to make an automatic new homologation of the Fabia WRC for this season and has been competing with the car in its 2003 technical specification. However, the FIA granted a special dispensation and during the week following Rally GB, FIA inspectors approved the homologation of several technical improvements to the Fabia WRC that will be incorporated into the car for Rally of Italy. The main changes include:



1. Moving the exhaust system from the left to the right side of the car so that it no longer crosses the propeller shaft.

2. Modifications to the rear chassis to allow more space around drive shafts.

3. Water injection to the intake manifold to improve engine performance.



Rally of Italy in detail:



Rally of Italy-Sardinia is based in the north east of the island with the start and finish of each leg being at Porto Cervo and with the service park located at the coastal resort of Olbia.



The event begins on Friday October 1 with six stages (three stages, each run twice) south of Olbia. The leg total is 158.56kms, making it just the longest leg of the rally. Saturday’s action takes place slightly further west where seven stages (147.99kms) are planned including two runs over the longest stage of the rally, the 34.21kms Tandalo test. Sunday’s 77.68kms final leg is to the west of Olbia and features three stages, each run twice but with no service between them other than to fit tyres and refuel the cars after the first run. The event finishes at 1645 local time at Porto Cervo.