The history of Škoda Motorsport dates back to the very beginning of the Škoda Auto brand and has therefore been an integral part of its DNA for more than 120 years. The brand's founders, Václav Laurin and Václav Klement, both had a great passion for motorsport and were able to make great use of the competitive successes as a persuasive marketing tool. This started a long-lasting tradition of motorsport at Škoda Auto. The current Škoda Motorsport team continues on this path and its activities are much more diverse than they might at first appear.

Car development
Škoda Motorsport is part of Škoda Technical Development and one of its main activities is the development of rally cars. This involves a team of technicians and engineers who are at the top of their field and have the development process running through their veins. But car development is not a one-off activity. It is an on-going process aimed at keeping the car competitive throughout its whole life cycle. The development team takes into consideration the regulations clearly defined by the FIA, all the data collected from the test programme and the experience of the customer teams, which they then process and try to continuously improve the car. The customers can therefore be sure that they always have a top competition car thanks to the support of the Škoda Motorsport team.

Car building
During the test programme, engineers and technicians are supported by experienced mechanics who know the competition car down to the last screw. They have invaluable experience gained not only at the Škoda Motorsport factory, but also in the World Rally Championship (WRC) and other competitions. Once the car has been developed and homologated, the Škoda Motorsport mechanics ensure that the customer cars are built to top quality. The individual components undergo a thorough initial inspection, and at the same time, assembly procedures are set up during the construction of the cars in order to achieve maximum quality. The car is then re-inspected during the output quality control and functional roll out on the test polygon.

Customer Programme
With the Škoda Fabia S2000 project, Škoda Motorsport has expanded its activities to include the supply of cars to customer teams. Between 2009 and 2015, the team delivered a total of 63 of these cars to customers. With the Škoda Fabia Rally2 project, the team has not only built on this success, but even taken it further. Škoda Motorsport is currently the most successful Rally2 seller, not only thanks to the quality of the cars themselves, but also thanks to its extensive customer service. If you are interested in more information about the Škoda Motorsport Customer Programme, you can read it here.

Marketing activities
Activities of Škoda Motorsport are closely related to the spreading of brand awareness and its emotionalisation. As early as 1901, Messrs Laurin and Klement decided to take part in a race from Paris to Berlin to promote their motorcycle. Such a way of promoting the brand still continues at Škoda Auto and motorsport has thus remained one of the brand's most important marketing pillars in the field of sport. Škoda's racing specials are seen all over the world, and their results and reliability clearly demonstrate the brand's technical maturity. However, Škoda Motorsport race cars are also involved in plenty of marketing activities. These include film shootings, photo shoots and various connections with both production and historic cars. Involvement in social responsibility and education events also forms an integral part of this.