‘Desi Henry to use updated Skoda Fabia’
New mount for Easter Stages,
Desi Henry is set to make his debut in the latest version of Skoda’s Fabia R5 on this week’s Easter Stages Rally.
Boasting a slight power increase over the original, the Czech-built car will be the first of its kind to be rallied in the UK or Ireland.
Originally, Henry had been told the car would not be ready until after May, which resulted in him switching to a Ford Fiesta R5 from the similar-spec Fabia he used for the last two seasons.
“They were keen to push the car and told me they wanted one out on the stages,” he said. “Originally, we were told the new car wouldn’t be ready until after the Rally of the Lakes in Killarney, so it’s great that we are getting it earlier than planned.
“The last Fabia we had was down on power compared to the Evo2 version of the Ford Fiesta, and it didn’t have the latest bits on it, but the new Fabia has all the upgrades.”
Henry and his team are hoping to shake the car down ahead of this weekend’s Irish Tarmac Rally Championship round, the Easter Stages, based in Ballyclare. He finished fourth in the ITRC in West Cork.
“It should be competitive right out of the box,” said Henry, who is fourth overall in the points table. “I know it can help us win the Easter Stages Rally.
“That was only my second time in West Cork so everything was still new to me. I am feeling much more confident going into the next round as I have previous experience of the stages.”
MN understands Skoda has over 40 orders for the upgraded Fabia. It has sold over 200 examples since its debut in 2015.