2008 SUBARU MOTORSPORTS PREVIEW

The Subaru Road Racing Team Legacy 2.5 GT spec.B #111 was co-driven by Chuck Hemmingson and Kristian Skavnes.

THE SUBARU MOTORSPORTS TEAMS ENTER THE 2008 SEASON WITH CONSIDERABLE MOMENTUM FROM 2007. BOTH SUBARU RALLY TEAM USA AND SUBARU ROAD RACING TEAM EXPECT TO EXTEND THEIR RACING SUCCESSES.

In addition to its support of a variety of performance events in which Subaru owners are involved, Subaru of America, Inc. sponsors two race teams – Subaru Rally Team USA (SRT USA) and Subaru Road Racing Team (SRRT). Each Subaru Motorsports team is managed by well-established racing organizations with plenty of experience and success in its type of racing. Vermont SportsCar of Colchester, Vermont, campaigns SRT USA, and ICY Racing of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, fields SRRT.

SRT USA BACKGROUND

Vermont SportsCar is owned by former rally driver/co-driver and car builder Lance Smith. It fields the two SRT USA teams competing in the Rally America National Championship. Vermont SportsCar also manages the Subaru Rally Support Parts Truck vehicle and the Subaru Rally Contingency Programs.

Photo: David Seaver/rally.subaru.com

The Subaru Rally Team USA Impreza WRX STI Red Bull #199 is driven by Travis Pastrana with co-drivers Christian Edstrom and Derek Ringer.

The SRT USA driver/co-driver pairing of Travis Pastrana/Christian Edstrom has won the Rally America National Championship two years in a row – 2006 and 2007. After the Sno*Drift Rally in January 2008, Derek Ringer replaced Edstrom as Pastrana’s co-driver. Ringer, a professional co-driver since 1988, is best known for his success co-driving for World Rally Championship (WRC) legend Colin McRae in the early 1990s. Along with Pastrana and his co-drivers, teammates Ken Block/Alessandro Gelsomino are always contenders at every Rally America National Championship event.

In addition, both teams explored the Production World Rally Championship (PWRC) of the international WRC during 2007. For the 2008 season, they are slated to compete in selected PWRC events. (You can find the PWRC schedule as part of the 2008 WRC schedule in this issue’s “Origins” article.) The team’s 2008 Impreza WRX STI rally cars will debut early in the season.

RESULTS – SRT USA IN THE 2007 RALLY AMERICA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

SRRT BACKGROUND

The Subaru Road Racing Team is campaigned by ICY Racing/Phoenix Performance, which is co-owned by partners Dave Rosenblum and Joe Aquilante. Both men are race drivers with decades of experience between them.

As the factory team effort in 2005, SRRT consisted of three Subaru Impreza WRX STi racers – Dave Rosenblum, Chuck Hemmingson, and Kristian Skavnes – brought together under the ICY/Phoenix umbrella. Hemmingson and Skavnes secured 1st and 2nd places in class at the SCCA Runoffs that year – a feat repeated in 2006.

The 2006 season also saw SRRT test a Subaru Legacy 2.5 GT Wagon in Grand-Am. Three races were enough to prove the Legacy platform competitive, and SRRT entered six of the 2007 Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series ST Class races with Legacy 2.5 GT spec.B sedans. Hemmingson and Skavnes drove #111, and Rosenblum teamed with veteran racer Davy Jones in #141.

For 2008, SRRT expects to campaign in at least seven of the KONI Challenge Series events – Daytona International Speedway, Lime Rock Park, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Watkins Glen International, Iowa Speedway, Thunderbolt Raceway at New Jersey Motorsports Park, and the season finale at Virginia International Raceway. Andrew Aquilante takes over from Davy Jones in the #141.

RESULTS – SRRT FINISHING POSITIONS IN 2007 KONI CHALLENGE SERIES ST CLASS RACES

2008 SUBARU MOTORSPORTS CALENDAR

¹ KONI Challenge race in which SRRT is most likely to compete if the team doesn’t run the entire season.
SRT USA = Subaru Rally Team USA
SRRT = Subaru Road Racing Team (dates listed are race days)

LINKS

For SRT USA:

• www.subaru.com/rally
• www.vtcar.com

For SRRT:

• www.icyracing.com