Skoda men to run Red Bull Fabias

There will be a substantial factory element in the Austrian team which will run two Skoda Fabia WRCs in 10 rounds of the 2006 WRC. Team boss Raimund Baumschlager says that over half his workforce will be made up from 2005 Skoda personnel.

Former Austrian rally champion Baumschlager will run Fabia WRC05s for 21 year old Austrian hopeful Andreas Aigner and an as yet un-named international star in his Red Bull Skoda squad, one of the two the Czech Republic manufacturer has pledged to support.

Baumschlager is confident his team will have what it takes. "Skoda Motorsport are sending us around 60 percent of our manpower," he said. "The other 40 percent have already proved their potential within our existing structure. It's a very good mix of highly motivated people."

The squad is expected to announce its lead driver shortly. Rally Australia winner Francois Duval has been widely tipped to fill this second driving seat in the team alongside the inexperienced Aigner, who entered four WRC events this year in a Group N Mitsubishi Evo 8.