Subaru World Rally Team

{{WRC team |Short_name = Subaru |Long_name = Subaru World Rally Team |Logo = |Base = Banbury, England, United Kingdom |Principal = David Richards |Director = Richard Taylor 555 logos were found on Subaru cars from 1993 to 2003.

Subaru used the team to showcase its all wheel drive technology. It has credited the increased sales of its vehicles, especially the Subaru Impreza, with its success in the World Rally Championship, in addition to popularizing its all-wheel-drive system.

Its 2008 season drivers were Petter Solberg with co-driver Phil Mills, and Chris Atkinson with co-driver Stéphane Prévot. David Richards was the team's Principal, and a founder and chairman of Prodrive. Richard Taylor is the team's managing director. The team's 2006 season, one that has been described as "disappointing" by Richard Taylor, was the subject of a Discovery Channel series called Engineering the World Rally which aired in 2007. The 2007 season was little better, and called the "second season from hell" by Phil Mills. The team withdrew from WRC competition at the end of the 2008 season due to widespread economic downturn.

Racing history

Although Subaru had participated in the World Rally Championship at various times since 1980, it was not until September 1989, that the Subaru World Rally Team, in its current form, was created. Subaru Tecnica International (STi) president Ryuichiro Kuze forged a partnership with the British firm Prodrive to prepare and enter the recently introduced Legacy RS in the World Rally Championship. The first Subaru car entered a world rally at the 1980 Safari Rally and since that, the team only participated in a few events per season, driving the Subaru Leone. Drivers in the early years included Ari Vatanen, Per Eklund, Shekhar Mehta, Mike Kirkland, Possum Bourne, and Harald Demuth. Alen remained with the team through the 1991 season. His successes included 4th place in the 1990 Rally Finland, also known as the 1000 Lakes Rally, and in 1991, a 3rd and two 4th places. Ari Vatanen and Colin McRae remained the primary drivers, with the season being McRae's first complete year of World Rally Championship competition. At the next event, Rally Finland, Subaru debuted their new Prodrive developed Group A Impreza rally car, known as the Impreza 555, driven by Vatanen and Alén. Alén crashed on the first stage, and did not drive for Subaru again. Vatanen, however, showed the car to be quick, leading for much of the rally, and managing a second place finish. It later took wins New Zealand and Great Britain with McRae at the wheel. At Rally Sweden, Sainz, McRae, and third driver Mats Jonsson all retired with engine trouble. Sainz won again at the Rally Portugal, while McRae finished in third place. At the Rallye de France, Sainz, McRae, and third driver Piero Liatti finished in the fourth, fifth, and sixth places respectively. At Rally New Zealand, McRae took his first win of the season. Other drivers for the team included Possum Bourne, who finished in seventh place, and Richard Burns who retired with a mechanical failure. Sainz retired after his radiator failed, while third driver Bourne retired after an accident. Sainz took first, McRae took second, and third driver Piero Liatti finished third. McRae won out, taking first place at his home event, clinching his first and only Driver's Championship, a first for the Subaru team. At the end of the season, Sainz left Subaru to join Ford World Rallye Sport.

1996

For the 1996 World Rally Championship season, Colin McRae was again the lead driver for Subaru. 1994 World Drivers' Champion Didier Auriol also drove for the Subaru team in Sweden, taking his #3 car to tenth place. He took fifth place. McRae's first victory of the season was at the Acropolis Rally, the fourth round of the championship. Liatti and Erikkson placed fourth and fifth respectively. McRae crashed out of Rally Argentina and the following event, Rally Finland. Liatti didn't compete in Finland, though Eriksson managed to finish in 5th place. In Sanremo, McRae took victory, with Eriksson finishing in 5th. Liatti retired following an electrical failure. Subaru took a 1–2 finish with Liatti finishing second. Once again the team successfully defended its Constructors Championship, winning eight victories out of the fourteen rallies, but McRae again lost the Driver's Championship to Tommi Makinen, this time by just one point. The new car, the WRC99, featured an electronically controlled semi-automatic transmission with a drive-by-wire throttle. Due to technical difficulties, the team struggled until the season's 7th round in Argentina. The team finished third in the championship, and Burns took second in the Drivers' Championship for the second year in a row. Following the October 2001 signing of four time driver's Championship winner Mäkinen, expectations for the team ran high. His teammate, Solberg fared much better, finishing nine events, five of which were podium finishes, including his first ever WRC win, at Rally Great Britain, the season's last round. Solberg then scored four outright wins, in Cyprus, Australia, France, and finished the season with his second straight win in Britain, securing him the Driver's Championship for himself and co-driver Phil Mills, narrowly beating Sebastian Loeb by one point. The team only managed to achieve third place in the manufacturers' championship, beaten by Citroen and Peugeot. At the end of the season, Tommi Mäkinen retired from the WRC. Subaru managed to consolidate third place in the Manufacturer's Championship again, while Solberg was second in the Driver's Championship, winning five of the season's rallies: New Zealand, Greece, Japan, Italy and a third consecutive win at Rally Wales.

In 2005, Petter Solberg again led the team in the #5 car, while Hirvonen was replaced by Chris Atkinson in the #6 car. The young Australian debuted with the Uddeholm Swedish Rally, and finished third at Rally Japan. Petter Solberg achieved back-to-back victories in Mexico and Sweden, early in the season. He finished the season behind Sébastien Loeb, tied for second place with Marcus Grönholm.

2006

Petter Solberg again led the team throughout the 2006 season, with the second car piloted by Chris Atkinson and co-driver Glenn MacNeall on gravel events, while on tarmac events, it was driven by ex-Formula One driver Stéphane Sarrazin. The WRC2006 had several changes from the previous year's car due to rule changes which banned active differentials as well as water injection, as well as mandating that teams must re-use cars and engines on selected ‘pairs’ of events. Due to the rule changes, the car was introduced on the first round of the season. Due to the teams lacklustre performance, after a decade of running the team, team boss David Lapworth was replaced by Paul Howarth. He picked up another second place finish at Rally Argentina, and again at Rally Australia. The team finished the season in third place in the manufacturer's championship, while Solberg finished in sixth place in the driver's championship. However, the team was not able to achieve a single win, and achieved podium results only four times. Atkinson managed to grab fourth place at the season opening event in Monte Carlo, after passing the works Ford of Mikko Hirvonen. At the 2007 Acropolis Rally Solberg managed to achieve a podium position.

After the summer break, the team was joined at the 2007 Rally Finland by Xavier Pons and co-driver Xavier Amigo, driving a third car, #25, not nominated for manufacturer points. However in the rally, Solberg had to retire on day two, after monstrous handling and steering problems which the team engineers were unable to deal with. Solberg finished fifth in Ireland, calling it "the most difficult rally he has ever done." At the final event of the season, Wales Rally GB, Solberg won the battle for fourth with Dani Sordo, propelling Subaru to third place in the manufacturer's standings. In the driver's championship, Solberg came in 5th, while Atkinson took 7th. Richard Taylor called the season a "poor" one, with Subaru only achieving two podium finishes, and no overall wins for the second year in a row. With the FIA mandated switch to Pirelli tires, tyre mousse has been banned, and fewer compounds are available.

At the first rally of the season, the 2008 Monte Carlo Rally, Atkinson scored his first podium finish on tarmac, after a close battle with François Duval while Solberg finished in fifth. In the 2008 Swedish Rally, Solberg finished in fourth place while Atkinson finished in 21st position following a spin on Special Stage 3, which cost him over 15 minutes. Immediately after the Swedish Rally, the team completed a gravel test in Spain, in preparation for Rally Mexico, the last test using the WRC2007 car. At the 2008 Rally Mexico, Atkinson placed second, his best ever result. Solberg was forced to retire on the second day after a driveshaft failure to his front left wheel. He continued under SupeRally rules on Sunday, finishing 12th. Going into the final day of the 2008 Rally Argentina, Solberg and Atkinson were comfortably in second and third position, poised to put two cars on the podium, a feat Subaru has not accomplished in several years. However, on Special Stage 19, Petter's car suffered an electrical failure, forcing him to retire. Atkinson inherited Solberg's position, and achieved a second place finish for the second consecutive time. At the 2008 Jordan Rally, on SS6, Solberg's retired after his Impreza suffered from a damper failure, which then spilled oil, lighting a fire under the hood of the car. Solberg restarted under SupeRally rules on Saturday, but crashed on the day's final stage after brake problems. Atkinson managed so secure a third podium in a row, following the suspension failure of Latvala, and the retirements of Solberg and Loeb.

Vehicle development

Group A Leone, 1980–1989

As Subaru Rally Team Japan, Subaru entered the first World Rally with second generation Group A Subaru Leone DL at the 1980 Safari Rally. In 1984 the model was changed to 3rd generation Leone coupé, one year later installed with a turbo. The other model used simultaneously with the coupé turbo until 1989 was the Leone sedan RX Turbo.

Group A Legacy RS, 1989–1993

Prodrive's vehicle development began upon the team's formation in September 1989, creating the Group A Subaru Legacy RS rally car, based on the roadgoing Subaru Legacy sedan. The Legacy was powered by a longitudinally mounted boxer engine, giving it a low center of gravity. Already equipped with a symmetrical all wheel drive system, it made a good starting point for a rally car. David Lapworth described the development of the car as a "steep learning curve." The car lacked power and a weak transmission and braking system also hampered the car. At the 1000 Lakes Rally, Subaru debuted their new Prodrive developed Impreza derived Group A rally car, driven by Vatanen and Alén. This led to a totally redesigned car, the WRC97, featuring modified camshafts, cylinder ports and combustion chambers. This allowed the driver to shift gears faster, and reduced the chance of dog gear wear. Due to technical difficulties, the team struggled until the season's 7th round in Argentina. The car debuted, and drove to victory, at the fourth event of the season, Rally Portugal. It featured a revised look based on the updated Impreza introduced the previous year. A revised gearbox was introduced halfway through the season. Its re-styled bodyshell was stiffer, and 30 mm wider to allow a wider track.

Each transmission in the WRC2007 takes 85 hours build, and costs over ₤75,000. The front and rear differentials are similar while the center differential is unique. The 2008 car is expected to benefit from a decreased polar moment of inertia due to smaller overhangs, and also features a double wishbone rear suspension. In which Prodrive found this inferior, and converted the cars rear suspension, back to the original MacPherson design. However, an updated 2007 car will be used for the first few rallies, with the 2008 car introduced after that. During a 4 day test at Sardinia between 30 April and 3 May 2008, Petter Solberg and Chris Atkinson drove the WRC2008 for the first time. A date for its debut was still not given. On 20 May 2008, the Subaru World Rally Team confirmed its new Impreza World Rally Car (WRC2008) will make its WRC debut at the Acropolis Rally of Greece, beginning on the 29th of May. On the cars rally debut, the WRC2008 scored its first podium finish with Petter Solberg placing 2nd in the Acropolis Rally.

Vehicle Preparation

Before each rally, each bodyshell is completely rebuilt.

Technical personnel

Graham Moore is the overall chief engineer. Moore was a member of the team from 1991–2002, and then rejoined the team in 2006. Jonathan Carey is the chief engineer for Petter Solberg and Richard Thompson is the chief engineer for Chris Atkinson. For years 2000 forward, the car is referred to as the WRCXXXX, XXXX being the year it was produced, i.e. WRC2003. The earliest record of this occurred with the WRC99, which Prodrive referred to as the S5. Each following car got a new designation: the WRC2000 is equivalent to the S6, WRC2001 is equivalent to the S7, WRC2002 is equivalent to the S8, WRC2003 is equivalent to the S9, WRC2004 is equivalent to the S10, WRC2005 is equivalent to the S11, WRC2006 is equivalent to the S12, and the WRC2007 is equivalent to the S12b. This article will use the Subaru World Rally Team's nomenclature.

See also

David Richards

BP Ford World Rally Team

Suzuki World Rally Team

Citroën Total World Rally Team

Video of Subaru Legacy WRC

Sources

External links

Subaru World Rally Team official website

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