Someone told me that Skoda was second after Audi for most rally victories by a car company! Is this true? I think the list he gave me went as follow:

1) Audi

2) Skoda

3) Subaru

4) Peugeout

5) Ford

I almost want to believe conisdering Skoda is the second oldest car company in the world. But I'd feel better with proof. Anyone?

What are you classing as a 'Rally Victory'?

If you're on about the number of manufacturer wins in the WRC from its conception in 1973 Skoda don't figure at all in the top 10 which is as below (at start of 2008):

1 - Lancia - 73 wins

2 - Ford - 64 wins

3 - Peugeot - 48 wins

4 - Subaru - 47 wins

5 - Citroen - 45 wins

6 - Toyota - 43 wins

7 - Mitsubishi - 34 wins

8 - Audi - 24 wins

9 - Fiat - 21 wins

10 - Datsun/Nissan - 9 wins

I think they did at some point hold a record for the number of finishes in events but this was in the lower formulas of rallying.

Like all Rallys combined, in there classes. So I think he meant RAC, WRC, etc all combined in the classes that Skoda did run!

I think the OP is correct, but that doesn't only include WRC series rallies, it also includes National and International Rallies that aren't/weren't included in the WRC series.In fact, in 1987, a Group B Skoda 130LR won the Gunaydin Rally Turkey and then in 2007 Carlos Sainz piloted the Fabia WRC to victory in the Rally Shalymar in Spain.In the 70's and 80's the rear engined models won no end of rallies, especially in the Eastern Bloc, often beating the Renault 5 Turbos, Fords and Opels of the day, so all those count as rally victories too.

Back in 1994, there were over 5,000 trophies in the Skoda trophy cabinet, so who knows how many there are now?

Hmmm - I'm sure I've seen a statistic somewhere that the winningest rally car ever was a SAAB 96 (produced for over 15 years in the same form), followed by the Ford Escort Mk2, Mk1, then some other cars....

Skodas always did very well in the 2nd and 3rd level classes, but outright wins were very few and far between.

Over 5000 trophies? Unreal! I doubt Subaru has that many.

Over 5000 trophies? Unreal! I doubt Subaru has that many.

Yes but remebember Subaru haven'y been around as long as Skoda and upto the mid/laties were really only farmers cars.

Skoda do have an impressive results history, this however is for class wins not overall rally wins.

For those that do not know how the class's are defined, they used to be:

upto 1300cc

1301cc to 1600cc

1601cc to 2000cc

above 2001cc

4WD are normally in a different class, also turbo charged cars have their actual cc multiplied by 1.7 (so, 1000cc x 1.7 = 1700cc, so it would be in the 1601cc to 2000cc class)

The classes have changed in some events to cater for modern engine sizes so its now

upto 1400cc

1401cc to 1700cc etc

Skoda have won countless rallies outright, not just their class.All over the World, there are rallies held that are not in the WRC calendar, such as the Bohemia Rally, The rally Shalymar etc, etc, and it's in these sorts of rallies that Skoda have won outright.All through the 70's/80's etc, the non-WRC Championship rallies were entered by Skodas and lots of them were won outright.Many of them were as stated in my previous post, in Eastern Europe etc.Also, Skoda entered quite a lot of Touring Car championships during the 70's/80's etc.

Remember that the 5000+ trophies only goes up to 1994 - I wonder what it is now, 14 years on.

The Fabia could have been a great WRC car if Skoda had the right drivers, not just old has-beens like Eriksson and Auriol etc, plus the youngsters they used.McRae was running in 2nd in a Fabia on the Australian Rally in 2006 and was just 30 secs behind the Xsara of Duval when the mechanics decided to change the clutch 2 stages from the finish and went OTL, which ended his rally, otherwise, it may have been Skodas 1st ever WRC Championship win.

They were also F2 world champions in 1994 with the Favorit 136L.

There are so many rallies that don't get any sort of proper media coverage like the WRC does - albeit on Dave, and these are the ones where Skodas are dominating.Just google Jan Kopecky Skoda or Roman Kresta Skoda or Carlos Sainz Skoda.

Skoda have won countless rallies outright, not just their class.All over the World, there are rallies held that are not in the WRC calendar, such as the Bohemia Rally, The rally Shalymar etc, etc, and it's in these sorts of rallies that Skoda have won outright.All through the 70's/80's etc, the non-WRC Championship rallies were entered by Skodas and lots of them were won outright.Many of them were as stated in my previous post, in Eastern Europe etc.Also, Skoda entered quite a lot of Touring Car championships during the 70's/80's etc.

Remember that the 5000+ trophies only goes up to 1994 - I wonder what it is now, 14 years on.

The Fabia could have been a great WRC car if Skoda had the right drivers, not just old has-beens like Eriksson and Auriol etc, plus the youngsters they used.McRae was running in 2nd in a Fabia on the Australian Rally in 2006 and was just 30 secs behind the Xsara of Duval when the mechanics decided to change the clutch 2 stages from the finish and went OTL, which ended his rally, otherwise, it may have been Skodas 1st ever WRC Championship win.

They were also F2 world champions in 1994 with the Favorit 136L.

There are so many rallies that don't get any sort of proper media coverage like the WRC does - albeit on Dave, and these are the ones where Skodas are dominating.Just google Jan Kopecky Skoda or Roman Kresta Skoda or Carlos Sainz Skoda.

Good post The only time Skoda spent in the top class of WRC was with the Octavia and Fabia.

You are right about the Fabia, wrong drivers at the wrong time. Kopecky achieved the Fabia's best results last year driving in a private team when the car was two years old. That was a missed opportunity for the Skoda works team, but bad management and drivers :(

I am confident the Fabia S2000 will signal a succesful new era for Skoda Motorsport. The car seemed very fast on the Barum Rally a couple of weeks ago.

John Haugland for the win. He won many many rallies (class wins) for Skoda.

Just saw this and found it a good watch. Some of you might enjoy it too.

 

On 14/02/2024 at 08:18, EnterName said:

Just saw this and found it a good watch. Some of you might enjoy it too.

 

A bit off-topic, but talking of tanks, Skoda did actually make tanks at one time, a fact that I only recently discovered.