Mikkelsen eighth on sombre Barum Czech Rally

Andreas Mikkelsen finished 8th on the Barum Czech Rally Zlín in his factory-prepared ŠKODA UK Motorsport Fabia S2000 to maintain his lead in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.

Juho Hänninen (ŠKODA Motorsport) won the event as the first six places were filled with ŠKODA Fabia S2000s, although the podium celebrations and final stage (SS15) were cancelled as a mark of respect following an accident on SS13 that claimed the life of a spectator. ŠKODA UK Motorsport would like to extend its condolences to all those involved in the tragic accident.

Changeable weather during Leg 1 made tyre choice exceptionally difficult, and Andreas lost 14.4 seconds on Friday night’s opening super special stage around Zlín city centre when rain offered little grip to his slick tyres.

Saturday’s constantly changing weather continued to make tyre choice a lottery, although Andreas was one of the best to master the slippery conditions as he and co-driver Ola Fløene took the lead after setting fastest times on SS4.

The ŠKODA UK Motorsport Fabia S2000’s technical set-up was perfect for the twisty narrow asphalt roads. However, the Tesák stage had a slippery section with very long and fast corners, which didn’t suit the set-up so well, meaning that Andreas dropped 33.4 seconds to leader Hänninen over its two runs (SS7/9).

Andreas started Sunday’s second and final leg in 3rd place, but lost almost five minutes on the day’s opening stage when he clipped a kerb at a left hand corner and had to stop twice to replace punctured front and rear right tyres.

Having dropped to 10th, Andreas had worked his way up to 8th before the rally was stopped one stage before scheduled.

Andreas: “It’s been a difficult weekend with a lot of difficult tyre choices, which I don’t think anyone has got right all of the time. I went in a new direction with my set-up before the rally, and maybe that wasn’t the way to go because the car felt better on Leg 2 when we changed it back. I struggled a little in the wet, but in the dry I felt more confident and I was a lot more competitive. A lot of the time I was happy with my performance. The team did a fantastic job, the Fabia S2000 was perfect and we scored what may prove to be some very important points.”

Final positions (provisional after SS15)

1. Juho Hänninen/Mikko Markkula (ŠKODA Fabia S2000)….2hrs 11mins 28.2secs
2. Roman Kresta/Petr Gross (ŠKODA Fabia S2000)….+1min 43.1secs
3. Tomáš Kostka/Miroslav Houšť (ŠKODA Fabia S2000)….1min +51.8secs
4. Jaromír Tarabus/Daniel Trunkát (ŠKODA Fabia S2000)….+4mins 11.7secs
5. Robert Barrable/Stuart Loudon (ŠKODA Fabia S2000)….+4mins 33.6secs
6. Karl Kruuda/Martin Järveoja (ŠKODA Fabia S2000)….+5mins 03.0secs
7. Andreas Aigner/Ilka Minor (Subaru Impreza)….+5mins 34.6secs
8. Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Fløene (ŠKODA Fabia S2000)….+5mins 36.8secs
9. Michał Sołowow/Maciej Baran (Peugeot 207 S2000)….+6mins 18.7secs
10. Sepp Wiegand/Timo Gottschalk (ŠKODA Fabia S2000)….+7mins 21.8secs

IRC points (provisional after Round 9)
Drivers’

1. Andreas Mikkelsen….136pts
2. Juho Hänninen….93pts
3. Jan Kopecký…83pts
4. Sepp Wiegand….53pts
5. Giandomenico Basso….40pts
6. Patrik Flodin….28pts

Article source: www.skoda.co.uk

Service and Maintenance - How we look after your ŠKODA and you

We pride ourselves on offering the highest level of customer service and satisfaction to make sure that owning your ŠKODA is an easy and enjoyable experience. ŠKODA owners seem to agree - in 2011 we won the Auto Express Driver Power survey for the third year running!

 

Being ŠKODA approved, our technicians are specially trained to know your car inside out. Replacement parts (only genuine ŠKODA replacement parts) are kept in stock or usually delivered within 24 hours, so you'll spend the absolute minimum of time without your car when any service or maintenance is due.

 

Our retailers also sign up to the Customer Promise - a set of consistently high standards that ensure great service and make sure you know what to expect each and every time you visit a ŠKODA retailer.

Article source: www.skoda.co.uk

Tour of Britain

ŠKODA UK will continue its partnership of The Tour of Britain in 2012, becoming The Tour’s Official vehicle sponsor for the second year running. The partnership will also see ŠKODA continue as the official sponsor of the King of the Mountains Jersey in Britain’s largest free-to-spectate sporting event.

 

The partnership deal is a repeat of last year’s popular ‘ŠKODA King of the Mountains’ climbs, three of which will take place on each stage of the race, from Sunday 9 September to Saturday 16 September 2012. A competition for Surrey school children to design the King of the Mountains jersey is underway and the winner will have their design made in to the official jersey and be able to present it to the winner at the end of the event.

 

ŠKODA has a long association with cycling, dating back to the start of the company in 1895 when the founders Vaclav Laurin and Vaclav Klement began manufacturing bicycles in their home town of Mlada Boleslav in the Czech Republic.

 

As Official vehicle sponsor to The Tour of Britain, ŠKODA UK will supply a 50-strong fleet of ŠKODA vehicles made up of Superbs, Octavias and Yetis. The cars will guide participating riders across 850 miles of roads through England, Scotland and Wales as they compete in the UK’s biggest professional bike race.

 

In addition to the support vehicle sponsorship, two teams will be targeting The Tour of Britain supported by ŠKODA vehicles for the duration of the eight days– Rapha Condor Sharp and Team Raleigh, both of whom will be hoping to become the first British pro team to win The Tour of Britain since its re-launch in 2004.

 

Many congratulations to Jonathan Tiernan-Locke who scooped last year’s ŠKODA King of the Mountains jersey, we hope that cycling fans across the UK will once again be drawn to each of the ŠKODA King of the Mountains climbs to witness the action first hand.

 

Commenting on the partnership, Hugh Roberts, Chief Executive for SweetSpot Group, organisers of The Tour of Britain, said: “ŠKODA is becoming synonymous with great performance amongst the cycling community and we are really excited that once again it will be a Tour of Britain partner.

 

“In this most important of years for British sport, we are looking forward to giving cycling fans the opportunity to see the best professional riders in the world competing on UK roads. We’re delighted to have ŠKODA UK on board for what promises to be another fantastic event.”

Article source: www.skoda.co.uk

ŠKODA at the Goodwood Festival of Speed

We had so much fun at Goodwood last year that we’re back again, this year, celebrating the launch of the new ŠKODA Citigo our award-winning city car. You’ll be able to meet the latest addition to the SKODA range and to celebrate its launch, we’ll be giving away a ŠKODA Citigo SE every day - so you’ve got three chances to win! Come along and see us at Goodwood to explore the Citigo for yourself.

That’s not all, at Goodwood this year we will also be celebrating our 2011 Intercontinental Rally Challenge Driver and Manufacturer title wins. We’ve been involved in the world of motorsport since 1901, and as the Goodwood Festival of Speed is one of the highlights of the British motorsport calendar it’s the perfect place to showcase our range of cars.

Goodwood visitors will be able to come and see us at the Forest Rally Stage at the top of Goodwood hill for various ŠKODA-themed fun and games. You might even get the chance to have a ride in the ŠKODA UK Motorsport Fabia S2000, while the areas adjacent to the rally paddock will offer visitors the chance to engage with ŠKODA’s sportiest road cars. You’ll also be able to pit your wheel-changing skills against other visitors at the Service Park Challenge, and try racing a remote control Fabia S2000. It’s not as easy as it sounds!

Article source: www.skoda.co.uk

New Architectural Icon

A professional team of designers, engineers, and experts in other fields of specialty work in the Design Center on development of new automobiles for ŠKODA. Using drawings and models, the Exterior Division designs the external appearance, while specialists in the Interior Division elaborate on the details in the interior. In order to be able to evaluate designs realistically, a Model Shop makes life-size models from modeling clay at a 1:1 scale, which are indistinguishable from actual automobiles.


The Color & Trim Shop designs upholstery fabrics for the seats, colors of the lacquer, and all other materials to give the interior a comfortable and pleasant appearance. Workers in the CAD Design Division generate computer-based models of components (e.g., wheels), create data for subsequent machining of ŠKODA Auto components, and ensure exchange of information with the relevant design units.

Article source: www.skoda.co.uk

More Articles...

  1. Introducing the new ŠKODA Rapid
  2. The ŠKODA Fabia Monte Carlo
  3. Tiësto fashions ŠKODA Citigo for Shelter
  4. ŠKODA Customer Promise

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