Surprise about Wagner

Full-throttle marriage with Skoda over after seven years

Simon Wagner (right) ends his collaboration with Skoda.

(Bild: Harald Illmer)

He had already hinted at it recently in the "Krone", and since Wednesday it is official. After seven successful years, four-time national rally champion Simon Wagner is ending his collaboration with Skoda! But this will not be the only change for the Mühlviertel native in 2025. 

Around seven years ago, Simon Wagner drove a Skoda for the first time at the Perger Mühlstein Rally. 65 more races, including four national championship titles and historic podium finishes in European Championship races with the top Czech car were to follow. Now, however, Wagner has ended his collaboration with Skoda. 

Wagner will compete with this design.

(Bild: Wagner Motorsport/Hyundai)

Many international rallies too
True to the motto "nothing ventured, nothing gained" and also due to the ever decreasing financial support from Skoda, the 31-year-old will get into a Hyundai i20 Rally2 in 2025. "I am incredibly happy and proud that we were able to set up this project for 2025," says Wagner, who will contest the Austrian National Championship, which starts on 3 January with the Jännerrallye, six rounds of the Czech Championship and selected European Championship rounds with the new teams "Service Podlesnik" and "Kowax DST Racing".

The collaboration with co-driver Gerald Winter has also come to an end.

(Bild: GEPA pictures/ Manfred Binder)

New co-driver
"The separation was not an easy decision. But the current circumstances contributed to it, I had to take this step and seize the opportunity!" Also new: instead of Gerald Winter, the German Hanna Ostlender will take the co-driver's seat in future.