“Cohete” Suárez and Alberto Iglesias Pin go out to win in the Spanish Rally Super Championship with the new Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 from the Recalvi Team. First stop, the Sierra Morena Rally this weekend
José Antonio “Cohete” Suárez and Alberto Iglesias Pin are ready to start the battle for the S-CER 2023 title. This Monday, at the Carlos Sainz Karting in Madrid, Skoda Spain has presented the weapon with which the Asturian duo of Recalvi Team goes out to renew the title won in 2021, and it does so with the brand new Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 in “green hope”.
This was defined in the presentation of a model that landed in the Spanish Rally Super Championship after a fantastic debut in the World Rally Championship, with results such as the victory of Oliver Solberg and Elliott Edmondson in the WRC2 category of the Rally Sweden.
The new Fabia RS Rally2 with which the Recalvi Team will compete in 2023, replaces the Fabia R5/Rally2 evo, the most successful model to date for Skoda Motorsport, and which achieved no less than 12 world titles, 22 regional titles and one hundred national titles, with 474 units sold worldwide, between 2015 and 2022.
One of those units was “La Checa”, a nickname that “Cohete” gave to the Fabia Rally2 evo with which it was proclaimed champion in 2021, and with which it also competed in a difficult 2022 in which it had to settle for eighth place after several dropouts.
“This car has nothing to do with the previous one. We have removed the orange color that brought us such bad luck,” Suárez explained at the presentation event, who is looking forward to seeing “how Córdoba is doing, after the good results achieved in Monte Carlo and Sweden”.
The man from Pavia goes out, as always, to win, but considers that it is still early to see where they are compared to their rivals, especially after a very difficult season.
“Last year was a cluster of unusual circumstances. I also went out to win, and everything that could go wrong, did go wrong (…) There is something that repeats itself in my sports career. From time to time I am left for dead, They try to bury me and in the end I come out on top. My sports career has had many ups and downs, but we’re still here, it’s time to bring out the race and go out to win,” he said.
“I feel good accompanied by Skoda and by Michelin. I have a lot of confidence in the car and in the tires, and I’m looking forward to shooting in Córdoba,” he added.
A step forward with the Skoda Fabia RS Rally2
Skoda Motorsport has worked on the evolution of its rally weapon. The renewed model is based on the fourth generation of the standard Fabia and therefore benefits from an exceptionally rigid body. It also features a new 1.6-litre turbocharged engine, based on the 2.0 TSI used in, among others, Skoda’s production RS models.
In addition, Skoda has worked on the vehicle’s electronics, safety and drivability, and has put it through extensive tests on asphalt, gravel and snow for almost a year, in places such as the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Croatia, Germany, Belgium and Spain, as well as in northern Finland under extreme winter conditions.
“I think it’s going to be a fantastic year, with a high level in the S-CER. Last year we all made a lot of mistakes, myself included, and we stopped for a long time without competing. This year, on the other hand, we’ll do ‘ too many races’. I believe that little by little the results will arrive. It will not be necessary to go to the top from the beginning”, said the general director of the Recalvi Group, Chema Rodríguez.
Alberto Iglesias Pin, Suárez’s co-driver, stressed the good relationship that exists between the duo he forms with José Antonio.
“Now we have to get the car ready and launch it in Córdoba. We want to finish with a good result in the first rally of the season. There is no extra pressure. We are ready: without the need to speak, we already know what the other is thinking at all times “Iglesias said.
Calendar of the Superchampionship of Spain of Rallys
- March 17-18: Sierra Morena Rally
- April 14-15: Lorca Highlands Rally
- May 5-6: Canary Islands Rally
- May 19-20: Pozoblanco Rally
- June 16-17: Ourense Rally
- September 8-9: Princess of Asturias Rally
- September 22-23: Villa de Llanes Rally
- October 20-21: RallyRACC Catalunya
- November 3-4: La Nucía Rally
- To be confirmed: Madrid Rallyshow
The first race of the S-CER season is, in fact, the Sierra Morena Rally, which takes place this weekend in Córdoba. It will be the first of ten appointments until the end of the course in Madrid at the end of 2023.
