Skoda pulls plug on WRC [updated].

Skoda has confirmed that they will not run a factory team in the FIA World Rally Championship in 2006.

Instead the Czech manufacturer will be represented by two privateer squads - one with backing by Red Bull, while a second team will be run around Czech champion, Jan Kopecky.

"We have given our future participation in the WRC a lot of serious thought and we believe that this is the most cost-effective way in which to maintain the Skoda brand's presence in the series," said Skoda chairman, Detlef Wittig. "I am confident that both partners will be excellent ambassadors for Skoda Auto in the coming season."

The team from the Czech Republic will be a single-car private team. Kopecky will contest 10 European rounds of the 2006 championship using the current Fabia WRC 05.

The Red Bull Skoda team meanwhile will run two Fabia WRCs on ten events under the new 'Manufacturer 2' category that allows private and officially supported teams to contest a reduced number of events instead of the full 16-round WRC programme. The Red Bull Skoda team will be run by Austrian Raimund Baumschlager and his Baumschlager Rally and Racing [BRR] Team.

Already confirmed as one of the drivers for the Red Bull Skoda outfit is 21-year old Austrian Andreas Aigner. Aigner has been gaining WRC experience in recent seasons as part of the Red Bull Junior Team. A second driver with international experience will be confirmed shortly.

Skoda had a disappointing season in 2005, scoring just 21 points and finishing the year sixth in the manufacturers' championship - 55 points behind Mitsubishi, who were fifth. Although the potential of the Fabia was highlighted by Colin McRae on the Rally GB and more noticeably in Australia, when the Scot almost took a podium finish, before mechanical gremlins put him out, Skoda's form has all too often been below par.

"The technical improvements of the Fabia WRC 05 were visible towards the end of the past season but the overall performance of the technique, team and the crews was not enough to be successful against the competitors," added Skoda's head of research and development, Harald Ludanek.

"The discussion about the FIA regulations in the future is the reason that we decided to create a partnership with young and talented drivers like Jan Kopecky and Andreas Aigner through their respective private teams. Skoda Auto will continue to observe the development of the championship and its regulations and will decide at some point in the future whether or not we will one day return as a factory team."