16/12/08
Subaru has announced its decision to withdraw from the 2009
World Rally Championship.
Prodrive, the company which runs the team on behalf of Subaru,
broke the news at 0900hrs this morning. It said the decision was
sudden and had been made in response to the economic downturn
currently affecting the automotive industry.
Yesterday Suzuki confirmed it would not be back in 2009 for similar
reasons.
The Subaru World Rally Team was established in 1989, when the
Japanese manufacturer teamed up with British based motor sport
specialists Prodrive. Since then the team has won six World Rally
Championship titles - most recently the drivers’ title with Petter
Solberg in 2003. In recent years, however, the team has struggled
to find its previous rally winning form. It last won a rally on the
stages in Mexico 2005.
“This is not only sad news for Subaru and the team, but also for
millions of rallying fans around the world,” said Prodrive chairman
David Richards.
“Subaru’s departure from the World Rally Championship is a great
loss as it is one of the sport’s icons. The Subaru World Rally Team
has created true champions such as Colin McRae and Richard Burns
and its absence will be felt by many the world over. Although this
decision closes a significant chapter in Prodrive’s history, our
focus now turns to the future.”
While the Subaru World Rally Team historically represented a
significant part of Prodrive’s business, today it accounts for no
more than 20 per cent of turnover. Prodrive says it will look to
redeploy as many of the rally team as possible in other areas of
its business operations.
There is no news yet from Subaru about how the decision will affect
Subaru’s driver Petter Solberg/Phil Mills and Chris
Atkinson/Stephane Prevot, or whether the company plans to return to
the sport in the future.
Prodrive, however, is already lining up its own rally return saying
“2010 will see the introduction of new World Rally Championship
technical regulations, which provide Prodrive with an opportunity
to prepare for re-entering the championship with a new team and
build on its 24 years of World Rally Championship experience and
success.”
Prodrive also pledged to support its own customer rally teams for
2009 and beyond. Over the past 15 years, Prodrive has sold close to
500 rally cars to more than 400 private competitors and independent
rally teams in 47 countries.
WRC.com
It's even more shocking than Honda's announcement 2 weeks ago.
The crisis runs really deep this time.
