Skoda tests passive Fabia WRC

Skoda has tested a version of its Fabia WRC adapted to next year's technical regulations as rumours about the possibility of a Red Bull-backed privateer outfit continue to circulate. World Rally Cars are required to run passive differentials next year, and Skoda is the latest team to test a car using the low-tech transmission.

Rising Czech star and Skoda young gun Jan Kopecky shook down the 2006-spec Fabia WRC on icy roads in the Czech Republic earlier this week. Conditions were similar to those expected on the season-opening Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo.

Ford, Subaru, Citroen and Mitsubishi have already tested versions of their 2006 title challengers with passive differentials, but Skoda has yet to confirm whether it will return to the World Rally Championship as a works concern. With former driver Armin Schwarz linked to a plan to run a Skoda team backed by soft drink firm Red Bull, however, the Czech marque has been adapting its cars to the 2006 rules.

Although a number of drivers have been linked to this team, former Citroen driver Francois Duval and promising 21-year-old Group N driver Andreas Aigner are hotly tipped to take the two seats. Both the Belgian and the Austrian have sponsorship from Red Bull. The effort is expected to be run by former VW factory driver Raimund Baumschlager's Baumschlager Rallye Racing outfit and co-ordinated by Schwarz.

Kopecky is also believed to be close to sealing a deal to run one or two cars from his workshops in the Czech Republic, driving one himself.