Skoda quit WRC?

Skoda will not take part in the FIA World Rally Championship next season, according to reports on auto-motor-und-sport.de.

Red Bull will instead run two Fabia WRCs, the team being led by former Skoda driver, Armin Schwarz and Raimund Baumschlager, who competed in the BRC in the late 1990s in a VW.

Red Bull will contest ten of the 16 events, with Andreas Aigner set to take one of the two seats.

Who will drive the second car is currently unclear, however German S1600 runner, Marcus Fahrner, has already been refused as he couldn't raise the required finance.

Although auto-motor-und-sport.de doesn't speculate on who else might be in the frame, former Citroen driver, Francois Duval has been linked to a Red Bull run Fabia in recent weeks, as reported on rallye-magazin.de. Colin McRae is also no doubt a possible, especially following his showings on the Rally GB and in Australia, although admittedly his wages demands might put him out of contention.

Skoda meanwhile have yet to officially announce anything, while Schwarz told Crash.net during the Race of Champions at the weekend that he wouldn't run his own team next year. Something that seemingly contradicts the story published by auto-motor-und-sport.de, although Schwarz did add cryptically that he would be 'running something'.