Rally, Steady, Go!

On January 20 the FIA World Rally Championship 2006 will begin in Monte Carlo. It will also be the first season for the Red Bull Skoda-Team (BRR) in the Rally world.

"Whether I have any wishes? - Certainly not at the moment", Andreas
Aigner says with a grin on his face. "For me a dream will be coming true
over the next days." To be precise: from January 20 to 22. The 21-year-old will be beginning his first rally season in Monte Carlo, for the new Red Bull Skoda team, the Baumgartner Rally Racing-Team – or BRR for short. "Of course I have dreamed of being able to participate in the race. But it is still unbelievable for me." The Red Bull Junior from Styria is besides Frenchman Gilles Panizzi (who is known in the scene as "Gille de Funes" because of his temperament and striking mimics) and DTM star Mattias Ekström the third driver in the new BRR private team. "Andreas will benefit from the experience of both pilots and learn a lot", as Raimund Baumschlager, the head of the team said optimistically. Andreas was discovered two years ago. In 2005 he already made a name for himself at several Rally WC races in Group N. In 2006 Aigner will take part in a total of ten World Championship races. The 40-year-old Gilles Panizzi, who for many years was invincible on asphalt, will be sitting in the cockpit with his brother Herve as
copilot, at WC races in Spain and Corsica, among others. Before this Mattias Eckström, a local matador, will be stepping in on the pedal at the second WC race in Sweden. The 28-year-old Swede already has a lot of experience in winning races. In 2004 he won the DTM, in 2005 he finished second behind Gary Paffet. Moreover Ekström, who has always had the tendency to drift off to the side of the pavement, was a winner of the N group in the Sweden Rally. The three pilots will step on the gas in two Skoda Fabia WRCs. Skoda, no longer a development team in the 2006 Rally WC, is also on board with BRR as a sponsor. But apart from this Baumschlager also promises ideal conditions for the 2006 season: "Our support team will consist to 60% of mechanics and to 40% of personnel from our rally team who have already proved themselves. That’s a good mix, especially since everyone will be highly motivated." The two Fabias compete in the “Manufacturer 2” category, which applies to all teams that race according to the current WRC technical standards. In the “Manufacturer 1” category, the use of further technological developments is allowed.