Skoda highlights Octavia WRC and Coralba tripmaster in 130-year history

Skoda showcases Octavia WRC’s historic 2001 Safari Rally podium and Coralba C-giant tripmaster, reflecting on its 130-year motorsport journey.

The story of Skoda’s motorsport achievements cannot be told without the legendary Octavia WRC and the special device that once helped it climb onto a World Rally Championship podium. As part of the brand’s 130th anniversary celebrations, the Skoda Museum is showcasing unique archival exhibits, including the navigator’s “brain” – the Coralba C-giant tripmaster. This device played a crucial role when Armin Schwarz and Manfred Hiemer secured a historic third place at the 2001 Safari Rally in Kenya.

The Coralba C-giant, a Swedish innovation from the late 1970s, remains widely used in rally cars today. It provides essential readings of distance, time, and speed, enabling navigators to stay on course between stages and maintain the right pace during special sections. In the Octavia WRC, it was mounted on the co-driver’s side of the dashboard, delivering measurements with an impressive accuracy of 0.03%.

The 2001 Safari Rally proved to be one of the toughest challenges in rally history: out of 41 starting crews, only 15 reached the finish. On the first special stage, which stretched over 117 kilometers, the Skoda team won the section and briefly led the overall standings. By the end of the rally, Schwarz and Hiemer celebrated a remarkable third-place finish – the first ever podium for the Octavia WRC.

Although it never claimed an outright victory, the Octavia WRC made its mark on world rallying. In 1999, Belgian driver Bruno Thiry achieved fourth place at the RAC Rally, while Schwarz himself twice finished in the top five, including fifth place at Rally Great Britain. The Octavia WRC competed until 2003, after which it was succeeded by the Fabia WRC. Later, the Fabia Rally2 and Rally2 evo dominated the sport, securing five consecutive team titles between 2015 and 2019, cementing Skoda’s reputation in rally racing.

Today, Skoda continues to evolve its rally technology while preserving its spirit of innovation. Modern Fabia RS Rally2 cars are already equipped with integrated systems that replicate tripmaster functionality, demonstrating how past experiences continue to shape the brand’s future.