Rally Australia : Skoda Motorsport
The Skoda Motorsport World Rally Team heads to Australia for the 16th and final round of the 2005 World Rally Championship (November 10-13) where the Fabia WRC 05 will be driven by the regular crew of Armin Schwarz/Klaus Wicha alongside Britain`s Colin McRae/Nicky Grist.

World Champion of 1995 Colin McRae readily agreed to drive the Fabia for the second time this season after a successful first time at the wheel on September`s Rally GB.

The Skoda Motorsport World Rally Team for Australia is therefore the most experienced partnership in the entry list with 262 WRC starts and 26 wins between them. Colin won the event twice, in 1994 and 1997, completed the event eighth times and has never finished outside the top six.

Rally Australia is characterised by fast gravel stages with a unique ‘ball bearing` surface that is incredibly slippery in all conditions. The Skoda Motorsport World Rally Team`s tyre partner, Michelin, will again be producing a special tyre to deal with a surface that greatly favours later runners.

Colin McRae
“Australia is a very difficult rally. It is high-speed and the trees are very close to the edge of the road. Combine that with the unique road surface and you end up with one of the toughest rallies of the year. It is also one of my favourites because it is well organised, has a great atmosphere and I`ve had some great results there. My start position should be perfect so I`m looking forward to the event.”

Armin Schwarz
“Australia is a great country to visit. Everyone knows how hard the rally is and that is partly because of the surface but also because there is not the same natural rhythm to the stages that you find anywhere else. But it will definitely be a fun place to end the season.”

Martin Muehlmeier, Head of the Škoda Motorsport
“This is a famously difficult event but in Colin and Armin we have the most experienced team possible. Hopefully we can finish the season with the result we deserve.”


Tags: colin-mcrae, skoda, australia,