BRC CHAMPION BOGIE TESTS TEG SPORT’S NEW SKODARU
Unique car took impressive win on competitive debut last weekend
David Bogie believes TEG Sport’s new Skodaru is a credit to the team after testing the unique car for the first time last month.
The 2011 British Rally champion became the first driver other than TEG’S test driver Arron Newby to sample the car which uses a Skoda Fabia R5 bodyshell and Subaru Impreza engine and transmission.
Bogie was left impressed by the car, which won on its competitive debut in Newby’s hands last weekend on the Phoenix Stages.
“I didn’t do a huge amount of miles, enough to get a feeling of what the car was doing, but as a base car the car is very good,” Bogie told MN.
“But of course now they’ll really need to try it on Irish Tarmac or try it on gravel and continue the development.
“They’re a small team and to build a car like that, it’s a credit to them. When you’re working with people like that who have the passion it shows in the car.
“I think really what the guys have set out to do is to build a car that’s affordable to run. Once you’ve bought the car the running costs would be very similar to a clubman four-wheel-drive car.”
Bogie has rallied a Fabia R5 since 2016 and has previous experience in World Rally cars, putting him in an ideal position to gauge how the car compares to both.
“It does feel like a hybrid between the both of them,” Bogie explained.
“When you sit in it, it does feel like a Subaru I suppose in a Skoda shell, so I suppose it’s exactly what it says on the tin.
“What you get is the suspension travel of the Fabia R5 so it’s nice suspension travel, and the benefit of obviously the two-litre turbocharged engine is [that it’s] very torquey in comparison to an R5 car where you need to rev it right out through the rev range.”
Bogie’s own rallying plans for the rest of 2019 “are still up in the air”. Despite skipping BRC rounds in Ypres and Ulster next week, he has every intention to compete on the Galloway Hills Rally. He also plans to head to Mull in October in either his Ford Escort Mk2 or a four-wheel-drive car that would allow him a shot at winning the rally.