Motorsport: RS – two letters that write motorsport history

› ŠKODA looks back on 117 years of motorsport heritage and has used the RS abbreviation since 1974
› ŠKODA KODIAQ RS continues the tradition of the 180 RS and 200 RS sportsters and of the ‘Monte’-winning ŠKODA 130 RS
› Since 2000, the RS logo has also marked out the sportiest ŠKODA production models

With the ŠKODA KODIAQ RS, the Czech company is transferring its now 117‑year motorsport and rally history into an entirely new vehicle segment. The first SUV to enter into the ranks of the RS models – which are specifically designed for sportiness – set a lap record for seven-seater SUVs around the Nürburgring’s Nordschleife. It has thus demonstrated in an impressive way that, like all RS models, it is wholeheartedly following in the footsteps of the successful historic and current ŠKODA sportsters.

ŠKODA used the letters RS, which stand for rally sport, for the first time in 1974. Based on the ŠKODA 110 R, the 130 RS two-door sports coupé was developed in 1975 – from the two rally prototypes the ŠKODA 180 RS and 200 RS – and became a success story. In 1977, the ‘Porsche of the East’ finished first and second in its category at the legendary Rally Monte Carlo and also won the Acropolis Rally. On the track, the versatile 130 RS took the overall win in the European Touring Car Championship in 1981.

Alongside the ŠKODA OCTAVIA WRC’s entry into the World Rally Championship in 2000, ŠKODA used the RS abbreviation on a production model for the first time. The ŠKODA OCTAVIA RS was the first member in the RS family – a family consisting of the sportiest variants of each respective model range. The ŠKODA OCTAVIA RS’s current iteration delivers a power output of 180 kW (245 PS). A ŠKODA FABIA RS with a 96‑kW (130‑PS) diesel engine was launched in 2003, and in 2010 an RS variant of the second-generation FABIA featuring a 132‑kW (180‑PS) engine with combined turbocharger and compressor entered the market.

In the world of sport, the Czech brand is currently setting the benchmark in the WRC2 with its current rally car, the ŠKODA FABIA R5. Since 2015 FABIA R5 has achieved more than 625 victories, which makes it the most successful car in ŠKODA motorsport history. In 2018, following on from 2015, 2016 and 2017, ŠKODA won the manufacturers’ title in the WRC2 for the fourth time in a row (subject to official confirmation from the FIA). This year’s drivers’ title went to a ŠKODA works driver pairing for an impressive third time in a row – this time to Jan Kopecký / Pavel Dresler (subject to FIA confirmation).

The Press Kit on this year’s ŠKODA Motorsport season is available here: https://storyboard.skoda.ysplay.cz/en/press-kits/skoda-defends-wrc-2-title-again/