#beatSKODAACES – ŠKODA Motorsport eChallenge proceeds to round 3 with virtual Rally Catalunya

› Online competition ŠKODA Motorsport eChallenge writes ongoing young success story; third round at Rally Catalunya (10/06/–14/06/2020) offers special challenge on tarmac
› More than 4,200 club members from all over the world are registered for the eGaming competition organized by ŠKODA Motorsport
› Gamers and international ŠKODA rally aces can compete behind the virtual wheel of a ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo against each other
› Online video game DiRT Rally 2.0TM from Codemasters® will be again used as platform

Mladá Boleslav, 9 June 2020 – After successful virtual rallies in Argentina and Australia, the new ŠKODA Motorsport eChallenge proceeds to the third round with Rally Catalunya (10/06/–14/06/2020) in Spain. Under the hashtag #beatSKODAACES, real life ŠKODA rally aces will again face the competition from eGaming specialists from all around the world behind the wheel of a virtual ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo. In the recent history of the FIA World Rally Championship, RACCRally Catalunya Costa Daurada-Rally de España (so the official name of the event) was the only event offering tarmac as well as gravel stages. The gaming event takes place only on asphalt stages, the right car set up for the first tarmac event of the ŠKODA Motorsport eChallenge is crucial as well.

The second round of the ŠKODA Motorsport eChallenge, virtual Rally Australia, saw a tense competition right from the start. The performance of the ŠKODA rally aces is getting better and better: Mikołaj Marczyk (POL), Polish Rally Champion in 2019 with a ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo, initially took second position which he defended until day 3. After five challenging days, he finished sixth. Youngster Oliver Solberg (SWE), supported by ŠKODA Motorsport in the FIA Rally World Championship (WRC3), finally showed his speed. While he did not finish the opening round due to an internet failure, this time he proved that he is nearly as quick on the virtual rally tracks as in the real rally world – he finished a fine fifth. Sébastien Bedoret, who in 2019 conquered third place in the Belgium Rally Championship, finished in 20th position. Both Solberg and Marczyk will continue their fight for best placed rally specialist during ŠKODA Motorsport eChallenge’s next round, Rally Catalunya (10/06/–14/06/2020) in Spain. Local hero José Antonio Suárez will join them. In 2019, he won Rally Princesa de Asturias, seventh round of the Spanish Championship, with a ŠKODA FABIA R5.

Spain, location of the third round of the ŠKODA Motorsport eChallenge, in the past offered glorious moments for ŠKODA. For example, in 2018, the Czech Manufacturer celebrated the WRC2 titles for the team as well as driver Jan Kopecký in the Catalonian town of Salou. One year later, ŠKODA secured the WRC2 Pro manufacturers’ title and achieved the drivers’ title by Kalle Rovanperä. For years, the RACCRally Catalunya Costa Daurada-Rally de España (so the official name of the event) was the only WRC event offering tarmac as well as gravel stages. The gaming event takes place only on asphalt stages, the right car set up for the first tarmac event of the ŠKODA Motorsport eChallenge is crucial as well. To better prepare their ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo, competitors in the virtual Rally Catalunya can get advice from ŠKODA Motorsport engineers. The recommended setup can be found under the following link: https://bit.ly/3dLjFyl .

The ŠKODA Motorsport eChallenge’s third event will be open for five days (10/06/–14/06/2020) to all registered gamers around the world (link: https://dirtrally2.com/clubs/club/295041, club name: SKODA ECHALLENGE). The virtual platform for the competition is DiRT Rally 2.0, a video game developed and published by Codemasters for all major gaming consoles like PlayStation®4 and Xbox One®. DiRT Rally 2.0 also runs with Microsoft Windows® on a personal computer.

The ŠKODA Motorsport eChallenge will be covered regularly under the communication hashtag #beatSKODAACES by ŠKODA Motorsport’s social network channels. Also, a video covering the course of the virtual rally will be published after the event.

The calendar of the 2020 FIA World Rally Championship

Even/Date
Monte-Carlo 23/01/–26/01/2020
Sweden 13/02/–16/02/2020
Mexico 12/03/–15/03/2020
(Argentina 23/04/–26/04/2020*)
Portugal 21/05/–24/05/2020 cancelled*
(Italy 04/06/–07/06/2020*)
Kenya 16/07/–19/07/2020 cancelled*
Finland 06/08/–09/08/2020 cancelled*
New Zealand 03/09/–06/09/2020 cancelled*
Turkey 24/09/–27/09/2020
Germany 15/10/–18/10/2020
Great Britain 29/10/–01/11/2020 cancelled*
Japan 19/11/–22/11/2020

*Events postponed due to the fight against the spread of the coronavirus

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