The first public outing on an international rally for the new Skoda Fabia S2000 will be on the Barum Rally Zlin this weekend, where it will be the zero car driven by local hero Jan Kopecky and his co-driver Petr Stary. The car made its first appearance at technical scrutineering in Zlin yesterday.

The new Fabia's appearance on the rally is the latest chapter in the testing process and another step towards the car's official homologation, scheduled for late this year.

"We see testing the behaviour of the Fabia and its components on a real rally, using real stages, as a valuable experience," said Michal Hrabanek, team principal of Skoda Motorsport. "This should move us towards successful homologation and subsequent participation in both local and international... // Yahoo! Eurosport