Racing history Subaru World Rally Team

1 racing history

1.1 1980–1989
1.2 1990–1992
1.3 1993
1.4 1994–1995
1.5 1996
1.6 1997–1998
1.7 1999–2001
1.8 2002–2003
1.9 2004–2005
1.10 2006
1.11 2007
1.12 2008
1.13 withdrawal wrc

racing history


team principal david richards

although subaru had participated in world rally championship @ various times since 1980, not until september 1989, subaru world rally team, in current form, created. subaru tecnica international (sti) president ryuichiro kuze forged partnership british firm prodrive prepare , enter introduced legacy rs in world rally championship.

1980–1989

subaru s initial forays world rally championship subaru rally team japan, run noriyuki koseki, founder of subaru tecnica international. first subaru car entered world rally @ 1980 safari rally , since that, team participated in few events per season, driving subaru leone. drivers in years included ari vatanen, per eklund, shekhar mehta, mike kirkland, possum bourne, , harald demuth. best result , podium achieved bourne @ 1987 rally new zealand finishing third. start of prodrive effort, teams competed in parallel, before being folded each other.

1990–1992

subaru entered first prodrive developed car, group subaru legacy rs in 1990 season, piloted finnish driver markku alén. alen remained team through 1991 season. successes included 4th place in 1990 rally finland, known 1000 lakes rally, , in 1991, 3rd , 2 4th places. 1992 season, subaru entered 7 of fourteen wrc events, preferring demonstrate car s ability on gravel rallies. drivers 1992 finn ari vatanen co-driver bruno berglund , scotsman colin mcrae co-driver derek ringer. both drivers able achieve second-place finishes. colin mcrae won british rally championship in 1991 , 1992.

1993

1993 legacy rs in 555 livery

for 1993 world rally championship season, subaru team debuted distinctive blue , yellow color scheme, along new title sponsor, state express 555. ari vatanen , colin mcrae remained primary drivers, season being mcrae s first complete year of world rally championship competition. markku alén, returned part-time team after brief stint @ toyota in 1992, , took 4th subaru in portugal. mcrae took first win subaru, @ eighth event of season, rally new zealand, last outing group subaru legacy rally cars. @ next event, rally finland, subaru debuted new prodrive developed group impreza rally car, known impreza 555, driven vatanen , alén. alén crashed on first stage, , did not drive subaru again. vatanen, however, showed car quick, leading rally @ 1 point, , managing second-place finish. @ end of season, vatanen took seventh in drivers’ championship, , colin mcrae finished in fifth 50. subaru finished third in manufacturers’ championship. other drivers competed subaru team @ selected events. new zealand driver possum bourne, veteran of subaru s days, joined team rally new zealand , rally australia. piero liatti competed in rallye sanremo , rally great britain. drivers richard burns , alister mcrae had competed in british championship, burns won, , appeared again in legacies rally great britain, burns finished seventh , mcrae tenth. drivers per eklund , hannu mikkola drove team in rally sweden.

1994–1995

in 1994, former world rally drivers champion carlos sainz joined team co-driver luis moya, , took impreza 555 first win @ acropolis rally in greece. later took wins in new zealand , great britain mcrae @ wheel. in championship manufacturers, achieved second-place finish, behind toyota, sainz placing second in driver s championship, , mcrae placing fourth. other drivers subaru team in 1994 included patrick njiru, competing in safari rally, richard burns in safari rally , rally great britain, possum bourne in new zealand, , piero liatti @ rallye sanremo.

for 1995 season, primary drivers remained sainz in number 5 car , mcrae in number 4 car. sainz won season opening round @ rallye monte carlo, while mcrae crashed out of event. @ rally sweden, sainz, mcrae, , third driver mats jonsson retired engine trouble. sainz won again @ rally portugal, while mcrae finished in third place. @ rallye de france, sainz, mcrae, , third driver piero liatti finished in fourth, fifth, , sixth places respectively. @ rally new zealand, mcrae took first win of season. other drivers team included possum bourne, finished in seventh place, , richard burns retired mechanical failure. @ rally australia, mcrae took second place. sainz retired after radiator failed, while third driver bourne retired after accident. @ rallye catalunya, subaru locked out podium 1–2–3 finish. sainz took first, mcrae took second, , third driver piero liatti finished third. sainz s first-place finish in catalunya left , mcrae tied points going last event of season, rac rally of great britain. mcrae won out, taking first place @ home event, clinching first , driver s championship, first subaru team. sainz finished close behind in second place, giving him second in championship, , third driver richard burns finished in third place, giving team second consecutive 1–2–3 finish. between mcrae , sainz team managed win 5 of season s 8 rallies subaru, winning team first constructors championship. @ end of season, sainz left subaru join ford world rallye sport.

1996

colin mcrae s 1996 impreza 555

for 1996 world rally championship season, colin mcrae again lead driver subaru. following 1995 championship victory, impreza 555 wore #1 plate. joined team drivers kenneth eriksson, in #2 car, , piero liatti, co-drivers, staffan parmander , mario ferfoglia, respectively. @ first event of season, rally sweden, mcrae took third, eriksson took fifth, , liatti took twelfth. 1994 world drivers champion didier auriol drove subaru team in sweden, taking #3 car tenth place. @ second round, safari rally, liatti s number changed #10 #3. took fifth place. mcrae took fourth while eriksson took second. @ rally indonesia, liatti finished in second place, while mcrae , eriksson both retired following accidents. mcrae s first victory of season @ acropolis rally, fourth round of championship. liatti , erikkson placed fourth , fifth respectively. eriksson took third , liatti fifth @ rally argentina. mcrae crashed out of rally argentina , following event, rally finland. liatti didn t compete in finland, though eriksson managed finish in 5th place. mcrae, eriksson, , liatti finished 4th, 2nd, , 7th respectively @ rally australia. in sanremo, mcrae took victory, eriksson finishing in 5th. liatti retired following electrical failure. @ last round of season, rallye catalunya, mcrae took second consecutive victory. subaru took 1–2 finish liatti finishing second. eriksson finished in seventh position. consistent podium finishes, subaru defended constructors championship, mcrae lost driver s championship tommi makinen.

1997–1998

for 1997, mcrae again led team, co-driver derek ringer replaced welshman nicky grist. secondary driver/co-driver teams included piero liatti/fabrizia pons (first in monte carlo), olivier burri/christophe hofmann , kenneth eriksson/staffan parmander (first in sweden , new zealand). once again team defended constructors championship, winning 8 victories out of fourteen rallies, mcrae again lost driver s championship tommi makinen, time 1 point.

in 1998 team had unchanged line-up, although jahu kangas/pentti kuukkala , jarno kytölehto/arto kapanen participated in 1 round each. mcrae took wins in portugal, corsica , greece. however, bad weather , mechanical failures hurt team, , subaru , mcrae finished third in respective championships. @ end of season, mcrae left team join ford, tantalizing prospect of driving brand-new car, ford focus wrc.

1999–2001

petter solberg

subaru had new line 1999 season, nominated driver/co-driver teams of richard burns/robert reid, juha kankkunen/juha repo, , third team of bruno thiry/stéphane prévot. new car, wrc99, featured electronically controlled paddle shifter drive-by-wire throttle. due technical difficulties, team struggled until season s 7th round in argentina. there on, teams earned podium in 7 out of 8 events, 5 wins, 3 of 1–2 finishes. subaru finished second in manufacturers’ championship, 4 points behind toyota. burns scored victories in greece, australia, , wales, second place , kankkunen took fourth in drivers’ championship, wins in argentina , finland.

burns , kankkunen continued drive subaru 2000 season, petter solberg joining team halfway through season, driving in rallye de france. team finished third in championship, , burns took second in drivers championship second year in row.

burns , solberg composed subaru s nominated line-up 2001 season markko märtin/michael park , toshi arai/tony sircombe competing in selected events. subaru again won driver s championships in 2001 richard burns , co-driver robert reid. burns left subaru peugeot @ end of 2001 season.

2002–2003

tommi mäkinen

for 2002 season, burns replaced tommi mäkinen , co-driver kaj lindström. petter solberg continued team, , pasi hagstrom team s test driver. following october 2001 signing of 4 time driver s championship winner mäkinen, expectations team ran high. however, after season opening win in monte carlo, able finish 5 more events during entire season. teammate, solberg fared better, finishing 9 events, 5 of podium finishes, including first ever wrc win, @ rally great britain, season s last round. win propelled him past ford s carlos sainz second in drivers championship.

for 2003 season, driver line-up remained unchanged previous year. solberg drove #7 car, mäkinen #8 car. season got off poor start, neither driver finishing rallye monte carlo. solberg scored 4 outright wins, in cyprus, australia, france, , finished season second straight win in britain, securing him driver s championship himself , co-driver phil mills, narrowly beating sébastien loeb 1 point. team managed achieve third place in manufacturers championship, beaten citroen , peugeot. @ end of season, tommi mäkinen retired wrc.

2004–2005

subaru impreza wrc2005 being driven petter solberg @ cyprus rally

for 2004 season, solberg joined finnish driver mikko hirvonen , co-driver jarmo lehtinen. subaru managed consolidate third place in manufacturer s championship again, while solberg second in driver s championship, winning 5 of season s rallies: new zealand, greece, japan, italy , third consecutive win @ rally wales. hirvonen ended season in seventh place, failing impress subaru team management. not re-signed 2005 season.

in 2005, petter solberg again led team in #5 car, while hirvonen replaced chris atkinson in #6 car. young australian debuted uddeholm swedish rally, , finished third @ rally japan. petter solberg achieved back-to-back victories in mexico , sweden, in season. finished season behind sébastien loeb, tied second place marcus grönholm. in manufacturer s championship, subaru managed finish fourth overall, ahead of mitsubishi , skoda.

2006

chris atkinson

petter solberg again led team throughout 2006 season, second car piloted chris atkinson , co-driver glenn macneall on gravel events, while on tarmac events, driven ex-formula 1 driver stéphane sarrazin. wrc2006 had several changes previous year s car due rule changes banned active differentials water injection, mandating teams must re-use cars , engines on selected ‘pairs’ of events. due rule changes, car introduced on first round of season.

subaru s season got off poor start, solberg unable score in first 2 rallies due mechanical failures. due teams lacklustre performance, after decade of running team, team boss david lapworth replaced paul howarth. not until third rally of season, rally mexico, petter manage score, achieving second-place finish. picked second-place finish @ rally argentina, , again @ rally australia. team finished season in third place in manufacturer s championship, while solberg finished in sixth place in driver s championship. however, team not able achieve single win, , achieved podium results 4 times. subaru s 2006 season characterized disappointing, , subject of discovery channel series called engineering world rally. in programme, subaru s dismal season described season hell .

2007

solberg s wrc2007 @ rally gb

solberg again led team 2007 season, driving #7 impreza. sarrazin left team, leaving chris atkinson single number 2 driver, piloting #8 car. atkinson managed grab fourth place @ season opening event in monte carlo, after passing works ford of mikko hirvonen. @ 2007 rally portugal, solberg came in second, following ford cars disqualification due glass in rear windows being thin. following rally, atkinson s co-driver, glenn macneall, elected leave team, , replaced stéphane prévot, had been team co-driver bruno thiry. @ 2007 acropolis rally solberg managed achieve podium position.

after summer break, team joined @ 2007 rally finland xavier pons , co-driver xavier amigo, driving third car, #25, not nominated manufacturer points. however, in rally, solberg had retire on day two, after monstrous handling , steering problems team engineers unable deal with. solberg finished fifth in ireland, calling difficult rally has ever done. @ final event of season, wales rally gb, solberg won battle fourth dani sordo, propelling subaru third place in manufacturer s standings. in driver s championship, solberg came in 5th, while atkinson took 7th. richard taylor called season poor one, subaru achieving 2 podium finishes, , no overall wins second year in row. phil mills called second season hell.

2008

petter solberg , chris atkinson continued team through 2008 season. xavier pons left team, although there possibility return. fia mandated switch pirelli tires, tyre mousse had been banned, , fewer compounds available.

at first rally of season, 2008 monte carlo rally, atkinson scored first podium finish on tarmac, after close battle françois duval while solberg finished in fifth. in 2008 swedish rally, solberg finished in fourth place while atkinson finished in 21st position following spin on special stage 3, cost him on 15 minutes. after swedish rally, team completed gravel test in spain, in preparation rally mexico, last test using wrc2007 car. @ 2008 rally mexico, atkinson placed second, best ever result. solberg forced retire on second day after driveshaft failure front left wheel. continued under superally rules on sunday, finishing 12th. going final day of 2008 rally argentina, solberg , atkinson comfortably in second , third position, poised put 2 cars on podium, feat subaru has not accomplished in several years. however, on special stage 19, petter s car suffered electrical failure, forcing him retire. atkinson inherited solberg s position, , achieved second-place finish second consecutive time. @ 2008 jordan rally, on ss6, solberg s retired after impreza suffered damper failure, spilled oil, lighting fire under hood of car. solberg restarted under superally rules on saturday, crashed on day s final stage after brake problems. atkinson managed secure third podium in row, following suspension failure of latvala, , retirements of solberg , loeb.

withdrawal wrc

on 16 december 2008, announced subaru no longer competing in world rally championships. decision taken subaru’s parent company, fuji heavy industries (fhi), partly result of economic downturn because felt subaru had achieved sporting , marketing objectives. ikuo mori denied alterations wrc technical regulations in 2010 or rumoured deterioration in working relationship prodrive had impact on decision. said possibility of subaru car in top category of wrc in future not zero, moment there can no assumption of comeback.