Subaru Australia

[raz0r$harP.UK]

Well, I thought it might interest some.. Subie is out of the rallying game in Australia. Pretty big news I think..

Taken from Media Release, Subaru announces rallying withdrawal

A significant chapter in Australian motor sport history has been brought to a close with the announcement that Subaru’s factory rally team, Subaru Rally Team Australia (SRTA), will withdraw from the sport at the end of this year.

The announcement comes after the team secured its tenth consecutive Australian Rally Driver’s championship last weekend.

SRTA has also won eight of the last 10 manufacturer’s championships, including the last six in a row. The team has also scored numerous class victories in both the World and Asia-Pacific Rally Championships.

SRTA is undefeated in its quest for the Australian Rally Driver’s Championship. The late Possum Bourne won seven championships straight from 1996 to 2002 while Cody Crocker has won the last three (2003-05).

Having closely scrutinized its involvement with rallying after ten successful years, Subaru Australia has made the following decisions:

1. Subaru Australia, through Subaru Rally Team Australia, will officially withdraw from the Australian Rally Championship with effect from December 31, 2005.

2. Subaru Australia’s sponsorships of the Rally of Canberra and the Subaru Safari Tasmania will cease at the end of their existing contracts.

3. Vehicle supplier arrangements with Rally Australia and other ARC events will cease at the end of existing agreements.

4. The Subaru Rally Challenge series will not continue past this year.

"A decision of this magnitude is not taken lightly but earlier this year we conducted a wide-ranging review of our strategic direction and that included our commitment to rallying," said Subaru Managing Director, Nick Senior.

"In 1996 we entered the sport, knowing that the next decade would see an increasing number of Subaru performance vehicles introduced into this market.

"To establish our credentials as a performance brand and cement the link between the Subaru Impreza WRX and Subaru’s world rally program, rallying was the chosen motor sport.

"Rallying was the preferred option as it was a pure form of motor sport where the best technology, the best crew, the best tyres and the best team won.

"For ten successive years Subaru, Possum Bourne, Cody Crocker, Pirelli tyres and Possum Bourne Motor Sport have been the best combination.

"In that sense we have achieved everything that we set out to. The brand is associated with motor sport success. The credentials of the Impreza WRX and Impreza WRX STI are beyond reproach.

"However at the same time we must recognize our changing customer base. There is an increasing focus by our customers on the utilization of their Impreza WRXs, Impreza WRX STIs, Liberty GTs and Liberty 3.0R Spec-B models for tarmac events. And, as our volume continues to grow in Australia (selling approximately 35,000 this year compared to 8500 in 1996) we have an increasing number of customers with interests outside rallying.

"Hence, our withdrawal from rallying will enable us to look at these areas.

"Firstly, in 2006 we will explore some of the tarmac opportunities for Subaru, and Dean Herridge will be offered a contract to undertake this exploration. We feel that there is considerable opportunity for STI Australia to substantially grow their business by understanding and then responding to the growing interest in club and state racing, targa events and the like. STI Australia will become very road and track focused. We will also continue the preliminary discussions we have had with other pure importers on tarmac racing possibilities.

"But the upshot of this is a changing of focus that will take events to our customers.

"It should be specifically noted that Cody Crocker will not be lost to rallying in the short term. He is contracted to Subaru for another year but will be loaned to a strong privateer team to bid for a fourth consecutive championship.

"Secondly, the withdrawal will also enable us to investigate other sponsorship opportunities outside motor sport for our growing customer base.

"Against this background - a changing brand, changing customer needs and a range that incorporates more and more performance vehicles - we made the decision to withdraw.

"We have had some great partners over the past ten years - Pirelli, Possum Bourne Motor Sport and Sportcom are decade long stakeholders in our success and we sincerely thank them. We hope that we can continue the association for years to come.

"At times it has been an emotional roller-coaster. A decade of success is tempered by the fact that our original business partner and driver, Possum Bourne is no longer with us.

"Possum was the driving force in more ways than one. He was an inspirational team leader, a seven-time champion but probably his greatest gift was his larger than life character and his love of the sport that encouraged many competitors and enthusiasts. SRTA has maintained and built on Possum's success, which we're sure he would be proud of. However, rallying overall has never really recovered from his loss.

"I also sympathize with our current drivers - Cody and Dean, however we must put the interests of the brand and our customers first and foremost.

"Cody’s performance this year to win the championship against heavily modified Group N (P) vehicles has been nothing short of sensational and he would have to be ranked amongst the top 15 drivers in the world at present.

"While everyone involved with Subaru Rally Team Australia should be immensely proud of the results I would also like to believe that we have been extremely innovative in the sport. We led the way with real-time results available through the web, five-star corporate facilities, Subaru Rally Radio, Subaru Rally Challenge and sponsorship of events that enabled us to conduct the Subaru Festival."

The final event for SRTA will be Telstra Rally Australia in Perth from 10-13 November.

[Silver-Arrowz]

I haven't kept up with the ARC lately but do Mitsu have a factory backed team? Most of the teams are independent so there's not much competition if the Mitsu team is the only big budget team. It's pretty much a 2 horse race since the only competative cars are WRX and EVO's. Thanks to WRC group A kit cars, manufactures don't churn out pock rockets anymore.

[ECR033]

All current ARC cars are the cheaper Group N spec (which is different to the WRC "Group A" cars). This change happened a few years back with the aim of reducing cost and opening the championship up to more teams.

As for factory teams, both Toyota and Mitsubishi have manufacturer backed teams. Based on last seasons form, I think Toyota will probably be the team to beat after Subaru's withdrawal.

Bit of a shame that they've pulled out, but I'm curious to see where they go with their "exploration" of tarmac driving events...

[MIVEC]

It's pretty much a 2 horse race since the only competative cars are WRX and EVO's

Citroen Xsara anyone?

[scathing]

Bit of a shame that they've pulled out, but I'm curious to see where they go with their "exploration" of tarmac driving events...

I guess that means we can expect to see Crocker line up against Richards and White at Targa Tasmania next year. There aren't that many "big" tarmac rally events I'm aware of in Australia - East Coast had a dearth of competitors this year.

[Silver-Arrowz]

Citroen Xsara anyone?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

We're talking ARC, not WRC.

[t01-100]

Les Walken pulled out last week to... not semi offical Soobie team either now.