The Fabia RS Rally2, which made its competitive debut in Germany last month but takes to the world stage for the first time in the French Alps, is being tested ahead of round one this week.
Škoda Motorsport’s test and development star driver Kris Meeke took the controls of the car initially, with Emil Lindholm, Sami Pajari and Marcos Bulacia following.
That plan is, of course, dependent on the supply chain issues which continue to hamper the global automotive industry.
Škoda’s Head of Motorsport Michal Hrabanek admitted those issues remained a frustration as the Czech Republic firm sought to supply its worldwide customer base.
Hrabanek said: “We know many people want the new car and we want to sell the car to everybody, but what can we do? We cannot satisfy everybody. It is frustrating – especially now we really know how good the Fabia RS Rally2 is.
“I think we can supply five cars before the end of this year and we look to [supply] around 50 cars next year. This is why we are telling many customers to keep their current cars – we can supply with all the parts they need and this is a very competitive car.
“One of the main issues we have is for the spare parts. We can build the [new] car, but we cannot send it to the customers without the spares package and for the people who are making those parts, they are having their own supply problems. It’s tough, but the positive is that we know we have a good car with Fabia RS Rally2.”
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