12/21
Stuff (NZ): Co-driver eager to test himself in higher class
Marlborough rally star John Kennard is very happy with his new Christmas present. Kennard, as co-driver with Timaru's Hayden Paddon, won this year's WRC Production class World Rally Championship and yesterday their participation at the next level up, and one below the ultimate WRC Rally class, was confirmed.
12/19
NZ Herald: Motorsport: Paddon secures international S2000 drive
Kiwi rally high-flyer Hayden Paddon will compete in the FIA Super 2000 World Rally Championship next year in a fully-backed Skoda Fabia 2000. The Geraldine gravel maestro and long-time co-driver John Kennard stunned the international rallying world this year with a near-faultless performance in the Production World Rally Championship. With three rounds up his sleeve, Paddon won the PWRC, becoming the only New Zealander to win a full international rally championship in his Subaru Impreza.
12/15
Reuters: Solberg replaces Hirvonen at Ford
Ford have committed to two more years in the World Rally Championship with Norway's former champion Petter Solberg replacing the departed Mikko Hirvonen at the works team next season.
Lancashire Telegraph (UK): Blind navigator Andrew is going strong in rallying
HE could do nothing about the car problems that ended his involvement in his most recent rally, but Andrew Komosa still takes real pride from the fact that he remains the only blind navigator in the country.
12/14
ERR News (EE): YLE: Solberg Signs With Ford, Tänak Left Out
Norwegian rally racer Petter Solberg has signed a contract to race in next year's World Rally Championship in the ranks of Ford's M-Sport team, reported the Finnish national broadcaster YLE.
12/13
Yahoo! Sport UK & Ireland: Solberg to test for Ford this week
Petter Solberg will test a Ford Fiesta RS WRC for the first time on Thursday with a view to joining the team as its second driver in 2012.
12/12
RallySport Magazine (AU): Middleton unveils Subaru Forester for ARC SUV class
Former Australian F2 Rally Champion, Brett Middleton has unveiled plans to contest the new ECB World's Best Bullbars Australian SUV Rally Challenge in a Subaru Forester turbo diesel. Middleton is the first driver to publicly reveal details of a campaign to win the inaugural ECB SUV Rally Challenge and believes the diesel Subaru will be the car to beat in the all-new rally category. The MRT Performance Subaru Forester Turbo-diesel is currently being prepared at the Sydney workshops of MRT Performance and is scheduled to be tested for the first time in early January, ahead of the opening round of the 2012 Bosch Australian Rally Championship, the ECB Rally Calder on March
12/8
Crash.net(UK): 2012 WRC calendar tweaked
The FIA, motorsports governing body, has confirmed that the 2012 Rally de Espana will now take place one week later than first planned, running from November 8-11.
12/7
Yahoo! Sport UK & Ireland: FIA allow safer tyre compound
There was outcry from the drivers on Rally Australia earlier this year, when heavy rain on the opening day made it difficult to find grip from the hard compound Michelin tyres the factory cars were forced to use.
12/6
Jalopnik: Why you don’t leave your WRX unattended at an endurance race
A Subaru WRX owner went to sleep at this weekend's 25 Hour of Thunderhill race with a complete car. This is what he found when he woke up a few hours later. Resident racer and gearbox theft-culprit Robb Holland explains why you shouldn't trust a racing team with your car.
12/3
Car and Driver: Subaru Tecnica International to Race Subaru BRZ in 2012 Super GT Series
The 2013 Subaru BRZ sports coupe may have debuted only a few days ago, but this fully race-prepped version sat alongside the stock car at the Tokyo auto show. Having already driven the BRZ in Tokyo, we can say that it packs some serious cred in production trim, but the race car assuredly will be on a whole different level. Subaru charged its STI motorsport subsidiary with creating a BRZ eligible to compete in the GT300 class of the 2012 Japanese Super GT series.
12/2
C|net: Subaru preps the BRZ for Super GT racing
What if the output were boosted to 300 horsepower, the body widened to make room for four massive slick tires, and the chassis modified with more aerodynamic elements than a fighter jet? Would you be interested then? If so, feast your eyes and ears on the race-ready Subaru BRZ GT300.
12/1
Edmunds Inside Line: Subaru BRZ GT300 Goes Racing: 2011 Tokyo Auto Show
When Subaru officially unveiled its new BRZ sports coupe at the 2011 Tokyo Auto Show on Wednesday, a companion racecar, the BRZ GT300, was quietly positioned alongside the "Toyobaru." Without revealing any technical specs or details, Subaru confirmed the BRZ GT300 will compete next year in Japan's Super GT touring-car series.
Motor Trend: Subaru BRZ Super GT Race Car
No show stand is complete without a race car, and Subaru put a honey of one on display at its booth in the form of its Subaru BRZ Super GT race car. Emblazoned with the words "Proud of Boxer" across its be-splittered nose and be-winged butt, the widebody, Subaru BRZ GT300 was a sight that got camera phones out of pockets in a hurry. Subaru has been competing in the GT300 class of the Super GT series (formerly known as the All Japan Grand Touring Championship or JGTC) since 2005, but always with sedans -- either the ImprezaWRXSTI or Legacy. Stripped down into racing shape, with the rear doors welded shut and AWD powertrains converted to rear drive, Subaru's GT300 racers looked the part, but were never that competitive. The new BRZ race car could change all that.
11/30
ESPN: Ken Block reflects on his WRC season
Ken Block, a pioneer in the action-sports gear business, is hardly a newcomer. But Block is still a new kid on the World Rally Championship block, and he hopes his American racing fans will follow him onto the larger international stage. "Stepping up to the WRC is a really big deal. It's like going from high school football to the pros. This is a dream come true for me to be in a WRC car," said Block, 44.
11/29
Times Herald (NZ): Hayden Paddon keen to be in Super WRC
Hayden Paddon is looking to step up into the Super 2000 World Rally Championship for next season and his team are frantically trying to put a deal together. Entries for next year's championship close in two weeks with the opening round in Monte Carlo during the second week of January.
Bancroft This Week (CA): Tall Pines delivers rally excitement in Bancroft
With above average temperatures, the winter roads that most rally drivers hope for were nothing more than a dream but for the thousand-plus spectators and enthusiasts, the day could not have been more perfect. The Rally of the Tall Pines is the last event for the Canadian Rally Championship. Six events attract teams from across the US and Canada each year with events held on this side of the border from February to the big Bancroft finish in November.
11/28
GT Spirit: Video: Lebanese Rally Champion Shows Passengers His Drift Skills
These new video clips seem to be part of an application that Red Bull Middle East is using for an event called Car Park Drift 2011. The videos follow a clip, which we showed you at the beginning of October. In that video you saw a Saudi guy being scared of drifting. The Saudi passenger thought he could handle it and had no problems with drifting, but the Lebanese Rally Champion Abdo Feghali showed him otherwise.
Digital Journal: Subaru Sweeps the Podium at Rally of the Tall Pines
Subaru teams dominated the field, leaving no room on the podium after claiming first, second and third place in the final event of the 2011 Canadian Rally Championship season. In total, Subaru entrants claimed seven spots in the top ten at the Rally of the Tall Pines, held November 25 and 26 in Bancroft, Ontario. After establishing a lead in the event over Subaru Rally Team USA driver David Higgins and co-driver Craig Drew, Subaru Rally Team Canada driver Pat Richard and returning co-driver Alan Ockwell set a stable pace for the duration of the event.
11/27
Inside Track: RALLY OF THE TALL PINES: "Crazy Leo' wins first national rally at Tall Pines
“Crazy” Leo Urlichich (Thornhill, ON) and co-driver Martin Brady (Meath, Ireland) beat a record breaking number of entries at the 2011 Rally of the Tall Pines, their first win at a Canadian Rally Championship event. Competition was extremely strong, with main CRC rivals Pat Richard (Squamish, BC) and Antoine L'Estage (St Jean Sur Richelieu, QC) as well as 2011 Rally America champions David Higgins (Trefeglwys, Wales) and co-driver Craig Drew (Gloucestershire, England), on hand for their first ever Rally of the Tall Pines.
11/26
Wheels (CA): 'Crazy Leo' tackles the Tall Pines
The 41st Rally of the Tall Pines, taking place in Bancroft this weekend, is featuring the winners of the last five TPs – Antoine L’Estage, who's won three of them, including last year’s, and Pat Richard, who's won two – as well as a new kid on the block, 26-year-old Leonid Urlichich, a.k.a. “Crazy Leo.” Urlichich, who’s sitting third in this year’s Canadian Rally Championship and hopes to make a run for second at the final rally in the national championship this weekend, insists his nickname has nothing to do with marketing.
Crash.net (UK): Rally Class launched for 2012 For a three-year period starting from 2012, Belgian team Symtech Racing, with the co-operation of WRC promoter North One Sport and Subaru / STI, will support and manage a new formula within the World Rally Championship, the Rally Class, it was confirmed this week. This competition will cover six WRC rounds, getting underway in Portugal before moving onto Greece, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. All crews taking part in the Rally Class category will drive identical Subaru Impreza STR12 cars.
11/25
Motors TV: WRC launches Rally Class
Next season’s WRC will feature a new cost-capped category, championship organisers confirmed today (Friday). Rally Class, a joint initiative between Belgian preparation experts Symtech Racing and WRC promoter North One Sport, will see identical Subaru Impreza STR12 campaigned in six World Championship rounds next year.
11/24
All Africa: Kenya: Waldegard Rules
American celebrity Travis Pastrana signed off the 2011 Kenya Airways East African Safari Classic Rally 2011 in style as legendary Swede Bjorn Waldegard extended his lead into half-way stage at Amboseli.
11/22
All Africa: Njiru Returns to Cockpit On Friday As American Pastrana Makes Exit
Kenyan local hero Patrick Njiri Njiri is set to take over the driving seat from American Travis Pastrana this Friday when the second half of the Kenya Airways East African Safari Classic visits the Great Rift Valley. Pastrana, who is sharing the Race4Change Porsche 911 with Njiru, is set to depart the country on Thursday. Njiru will then pick up from where Pastrana left together with Italian female navigator Fabrizia Pons.
11/18
ESPN: Brian Deegan to join Pastrana at ROC
After more than a decade spent competing against one another, freestyle motocross icons Travis Pastrana and Brian Deegan are teammates. The two athletes, who've both made the switch to car racing in recent years, will represent the U.S. at the 2011 Race of Champions in Dusseldorf, Germany, Dec. 3-4.
11/17
Voxy (NZ): Paddon celebrates world championship with NZ tour
"I'm travelling in a Subaru STI which carries the same livery as our championship-winning rally car and I'll be visiting 12 PlaceMakers branches, Subaru dealerships and other venues throughout the country, from Auckland to Dunedin.
11/15
Jalopnik: As close as you’ll get to Dirt3 in real life
Take the most crowd-pleasing strains of modern automotive culture — rally cars, drifting, gymkhanas, the surreal settings of video games — splice them, wrap it all up for broadcast, and you have SPEED's newest effort: "Battle Cross."
Motorsport.com: WRC: Hayden Paddon Wales Rally GB final leg summary
Just four weeks away from being presented with the trophy as the 2011 FIA Production World Rally Champion, New Zealander Hayden Paddon has finished his final event of the season with a solid 13th place. Paddon’s use of a brand-new Subaru STI R4 rally car in Wales Rally GB highlighted the potential of the new R4 production car and although the Kiwi was frustrated at times not to get the car working as well as he wanted, many positives were gained.
Motor Trend: Subaru Plans to Compete in Super GT Racing League with BRZ Coupe According to the official Subaru enthusiast site Subaru Motorsport Magazine, Subaru Technica International (better known to gearheads as STI), Subaru is planning on competing in the Super GT racing league with the new rear-drive sports coupe.
11/14
Rallysport Magazine (AU): Paddon takes positives from final WRC event of season
Just four weeks away from being presented with the trophy as the 2011 FIA Production World Rally Champion, New Zealander Hayden Paddon has finished his final event of the season with a solid 13th place. Paddon’s use of a brand-new Subaru STI R4 rally car in Wales Rally GB highlighted the potential of the new R4 production car and although the Kiwi was frustrated at times not to get the car working as well as he wanted, many positives were gained.
Autosport (UK): Action sports star Brian Deegan joins 2011 Race of Champions field
Action sports star Brian Deegan will team up with Race of Champions regular Travis Pastrana in Team USA at this year's RoC, which takes place in Dusseldrof on 3-4 December. Deegan is best known as a motocross and supercross rider, and has also moved into cars in recent years, winning gold in the X Games' rally cross category this summer - his 13th career X Games medal.
11/13
Autoevolution: Subaru BRZ STI to Race in Japan Touring Car Championship
Just when we thought there was nothing more to hear about the Toyobaru, the FT-86 Club comes to the rescue with fresh info of a motorsport application. According to a Japanese source, the Subaru BRZ will race in the 2012 Super GT class in Japan, and the way we understand it is that it’s an STI model.
Stuff (NZ): Hayden Paddon happy with 13th at GB rally
New Zealand's Hayden Paddon has finished his final event of the season in 13th place overall at Wales Rally GB, one month out from being presented with the trophy as the Production World Rally Champion, Paddon's use of a new Subaru STI R4 rally car in Wales Rally GB highlighted the potential of the new R4 production car and although the Kiwi was frustrated at times not to get the car working as well as he wanted, many positives were gained.
Rallye-info: Flodin makes it 2-for‐2 with in Wales
Swedish driver Patrik Flodin (SWE, Subaru, Michelin) alongside his new co-‐driver Timo Alanne (FIN) clinched his second consecutive win on the seventh and final round of the 2011 FIA Production car World Rally Championship at Wales Rally GB this weekend. Victory this weekend makes the Swede PWRC runner-‐up for the second year.
11/12
Voxy (NZ): Paddon holds steady at WRC Wales Rally GB
Hayden Paddon, New Zealand's world champion rally driver, hasn't had the easiest day in his new Subaru R4, but has managed to finish the third day of Wales Rally GB holding steady in 13th position overall. With co-driver John Kennard, Paddon came through Saturday's two repeated loops of three stages determined to improve the handling of the new Subaru - which he's testing for of Subaru Technica International (STI), the motorsport arm of Japanese Subaru manufacturer Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd and his Belgium-based team Symtech Racing - for the rally's final day on Sunday (UK time). Although the heavy rain which fell on Friday turned into sunshine, grip on the rough gravel tracks was lacking as they remained muddy and slippery.
11/11
Voxy (NZ): Paddon improves to 13th in WRC Wales Rally GB
New Zealand's world champion rally driver Hayden Paddon has overcome the challenges of typically muddy Welsh roads and a brand-new rally car to finish the second day of Wales Rally GB in 13th overall. Paddon finishes Friday's eight stages the best-placed competitor in the Super 2000 class which, although is not an official category in Wales, has attracted a number of drivers.
11/10
Stuff (NZ): Paddon hits snags on GB Rally opening stages
Technical problems and a little over-ambition marred Kiwi driver Hayden Paddon's first day on the Rally of Great Britain. The Timaru rally specialist was a disappointing 19th at the Welsh-based event, a minute and a half off the pace set by world champion Sebastian Loeb.
11/09
Motorsport.com: WRC: Symtech Racing preps Subaru for Wales Rally GB
In just a short space of time Symtech Racing has built a new Subaru Impreza R4 and this weekend the new car will be seen in action for the first time with Hayden Paddon on the Wales Rally GB. The timescale in which Symtech's latest car was built may have been short, but the Belgian team rose to the challenge just as successfully as it has always done. Once again it was a race against time to be ready, but by Sunday Hayden Paddon was able to test out his latest toy at Walter's Arena in Wales. The entire project has been supported by STI, Subaru's motorsport division, which has been keeping a close eye on operations throughout.
Motorsport.com: WRC: Support classes Wales Rally GB preview
A thrilling three-way battle for the runner-up spot in the Production Car World Rally Championship will take centre stage when the series concludes on Wales Rally GB this week. Swedish Subaru Impreza driver Patrik Flodin currently occupies the position but with Michal Kosciuszko, in a Mitsubishi Lancer, six points behind and Czech Martin Semerad two points adrift of the Pole, the fight for supremacy is wide open heading to the challenging gravel event.
11/08
Autosport (UK): Petter Solberg eyes victory in Rally GB
Petter Solberg says this week's Rally GB offers him his best chance yet of ending his six-year run without a World Rally Championship victory. A win in Wales would make Solberg the most successful driver ever on Britain's round of the WRC. Having won the rally four times, he currently shares that status with Hannu Mikkola.
11/07
Best of Rally Live!: Paint It Orange
It was 10 years ago that the late Richard Burns claimed the world title at the wheel of a Subaru Impreza WRC. In memory of the British driver who died of cancer in 2005, a ‘Paint It Orange’ campaign has been launched in a bid to collect funds to help fight this terrible disease.
11/06
Voxy (NZ): Paddon strives for top ten finish at WRC Wales Rally GB There's no easing off the throttle for New Zealand's champion rally driver Hayden Paddon who has two goals at this week's World Rally Championship finale in the United Kingdom. The 24-year-old gets to secure his record-making World Production Rally Championship title simply by starting the three-day Wales Rally GB on 10 November. Paddon is also gunning for a top ten finish in the hugely-popular British event, where the Geraldine-based Kiwi will be partnered by co-driver John Kennard from Blenheim, despite driving a brand-new R4-spec Subaru rally car that was completed literally days before the start.
Times Herald (NZ): Hayden Paddon pins rally hopes on new car
Geraldine rally driver Hayden Paddon has successfully test-trialled a new Subaru STI R4 in the United Kingdom. Paddon will take on the World Rally Championship finale, the Wales Rally GB, in Wales this week and said yesterday there had been "no dramas" with the test.
11/04
BCLocalNews: Rallying around award
I remember it like it was yesterday,” he chuckled when asked how it felt taking his first checkered flag. The year was 1963 and he finished first out of a field of 30 at Vancouver’s Thunderbird Rally. “I was ecstatic, you sort of don’t believe you did it,” he said smiling from ear to ear.
11/03
Southeast Missourian: Perryville Farm & Forest Rally a Success
Many of the best Midwest rally teams met in Perryville, Missouri on Saturday October 29th, for the inaugural Perryville Farm & Forest Rally race. This newly formed event took place on various east Perry County roads, starting in downtown Perryville and finishing at Altenburg's fairgrounds. Sunny skies and perfect fall conditions made for an enjoyable day for competitors and the hundreds of spectators watching the rally.
11/01
ESPN: Mr. and Mrs. Pastrana
Freestyle motocross and rally car racing superstar Travis Pastrana married professional skateboarder Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins in a private ceremony on Saturday. Pastrana, an X Games competitor since 1999, is one of the most decorated athletes in action sports. Hawkins competed in Women's Skateboard Vert at the X Games from 2003 to 2010, picking up three gold medals, three silver, and one bronze.
Speed: Swedish Ford rally driver Per-Gunner Andersson too slow as wife gives birth in WRC star's car
Swedish rally driver Per-Gunner Andersson is known for his speed behind the wheel but he wasn't fast enough this weekend when his wife had to give birth in their car on the way to hospital.
10/28
Crash.net (UK): F1 drivers rally to 'Paint It Orange' for Richard Burns
Following the endeavours of the world's foremost rally drivers during the course of last weekend's Rally de Espana, F1 drivers have joined hands with the 'Paint It Orange' campaign in the run-up to this weekend's inaugural Indian Grand Prix in New Dehli. The drivers, including among others Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher, Jenson Button and Mark Webber have been photographed wearing the commemorative 'Paint It Orange' t-shirt designed to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Richard Burns' World Rally title, a milestone that will be reached during the forthcoming Wales Rally GB.
10/27
Stuff (NZ): Hayden Paddon's shift to R4 class opens options
Hayden Paddon says he will be chasing a top-10 finish in his new R4 Subaru in the Rally of Great Britain in Wales in two weeks. Paddon confirmed yesterday that he and co-driver John Kennard will be stepping up a class from the Production World Rally Championship which he won in Australia in September. The Winchester-based driver, 24, has been chasing a drive in either the Super 2000 or world rally class for the final event of the season from November 10-13. His start is subject to confirmation from FIA (the international governing body) but that seems a formality.
ESPN: Thief steals Block helmet in Las Vegas
In Sin City, it's a case of hooligan against hoonigan. Mr. Hoonigan, you're not in the City of Angels anymore. A thief stole Ken Block's one-of-a-kind $1,800 helmet. The scene of the crime was Block's race trailer in Las Vegas last week. The reward for the return of the helmet is a ride with Block. The Gymkhana star's head armor was a custom paint job by Troy Lee Designs.
10/26
Voxy (NZ): Paddon confirms Subaru-supported final car
New Zealand's leading rally driving duo, Hayden Paddon and John Kennard, continue pushing their own competitive boundaries with confirmation they will drive an R4-spec Subaru STI rally car in Wales Rally GB, the final round of their 2011 campaign. Having secured the 2011 FIA Production World Rally Championship title with two rounds to spare, subject to final confirmation by the FIA, Paddon has been seeking further opportunities to demonstrate his abilities and confirm his plans for next year.
10/24
All Car Tech: Why The World Rally Championship Has Gone Low-Tech
Motorsport is expensive. If you were to write "expensive" in letters the size of the Hollywood sign, you'd only be scraping the surface of how expensive it actually is.
10/23
Rallye-info: Flodin back on top at Rally de España
2010 PWRC runner-‐upPatrik Flodin (SWE, Subaru, Michelin) and his co-‐driver Göran Bergsten successfully drove their Michelin-‐shod Subaru Impreza to victory on the sixth and penultimate event of the 2011 FIA Production car World Rally Championship at Rallye de España this weekend.
Rallye-info: Spain PWRC driver quotes
PATRIK FLODIN (SWE, Subaru Impreza, Michelin)
Day One–(AM) "It was a good morning, we didn’t make any mistakes and we are very happy to be in the lead, but Kościuszko is still very close so we have to stay focused to keep him behind us. We were fighting with the dust in the stages, not only on the roads but in our Subaru as well because we have a hole somewhere in the chassis so there was a lot of dust coming into the Impreza."
10/22
Michelin: Hayden Paddon: New Zealand’s other sporting success
On Sunday morning, anyone who is a fan of both rallying and rugby will have a difficult choice to make: watch the World Cup final on TV or profit from the sunny weather to watch the last day of action at the Rally de Espana…
Yahoo! Sport New Zealand: Paddon overcomes challenge with stage wins in WRC Spain
New Zealand's world champion rally driver Hayden Paddon was unable to contest even a single stage of the first day of Rally Spain after an electrical fault with his Subaru rally car. But with the car repaired, Paddon was able to start the second all-tarmac day of the Spanish World Rally Championship event, winning five of the six stages in the production car category.
10/21
ESPN: Pastrana racing to help end poverty
Pastrana, who is already a rally champion in America, has entered the Race4Change East African Safari Classic Rally, which is dubbed as one of the toughest rallies in the world. "I could not be more excited to come over and participate in such an awesome charity event," said Pastrana.
The Inquirer: Ford technical director explains low-tech approach in WRC cars TECHNICAL AIDS were making racing too easy for drivers, rally cars will never be fully electric, and roadcars are filled with too much gimmick technology. These are the views of straight-talking Christian Loriaux, technical director for the Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Championship (WRC) Team.
10/19
Rally-Info: Symtech and Paddon ready for Spain
The 2011 FIA Production World Rally Championship will resume this weekend at Salou in Spain with Symtech Racing driver Hayden Paddon ready to enjoy the challenge of the penultimate round: the Rally of Spain. The New Zealander and Symtech Racing have already put the title beyond the reach of their rivals since Australia by clinching the crown in their Subaru Impreza that is prepared and run by the Belgian team.
10/18
Maxrally: Co-driver compares Paddon to McRae
“Inside the car the demeanour of Hayden and Colin is so similar,” said Kennard. “I had rides with Carlos [Sainz] and Colin during my time with Prodrive but Colin was always the calm one, leisurely and never flustered. That’s what Hayden is like.”
10/17
Voxy (NZ): No let-up for Paddon at WRC Spain
Hayden Paddon is New Zealand's first-ever world rally champion, but there's no let-up for the 24-year-old as he heads to Rally de Espana which runs from 20 to 23 October. The Geraldine-based world champion still has much to prove on the tarmac and gravel mixed surface Spanish World Rally Championship event as he strives to secure funding and opportunities to further his international rallying career. "John [Kennard, Paddon's Blenheim-based co-driver] and I haven't contested Rally Spain before, which is our second-to-last WRC event for this season. I was a spectator there last year and know the tarmac stages are more like a series of race tracks!" says Paddon from the service park in the town of Salou on the Mediterranean coast between Barcelona and Valencia. "In fact, this event is unique in that we run one day on a mix of gravel and tarmac and two days on all tarmac stages, so that's challenging in terms of my driving style and what our team, Symtech Racing, needs to do in setting up our Subaru rally car."
10/13
Autoweek: Pastrana to compete in Race of Champions
Travis Pastrana will once again compete in the International Race of Champions, the organizers said on Thursday. This will be his seventh appearance at the all-star contest. Pastrana has won 11 X Games medals and four Rally America titles, and he was set to compete in NASCAR this year before he broke is his ankle in a bike crash.
Paddock Talk: SCCA Rallycross National Championships Claimed In The Dirt
SCCA’s RallyCross competition use aggregate times of either 8 or 9 runs, depending on the class, to determine the winner. In the Prepared – All Wheel Drive class, Kubo Kordisch, of Brighton, Colo., and Nathan Usher, of Mason, Mich., traded blows through all eight of their scored runs on the loose track. Matching run for run, Kordisch’s Coys Custom Wheels & Tires Subaru Impreza topped Usher’s Subaru WRX Wagon in four of the runs, and at the conclusion of the weekend earned the National Championship by only 0.197-second.
10/11
Perthshire Advertiser (UK): Mikkelsen crowned king of Scotland at Scone
Five-times British Rally champion, Jimmy McRae opened each stage in the Subaru raced by his late son, Colin, in tribute to the former World Rally champion.
Checkered Flag (UK): Pritchard Celebrates Group N Win On Rally Of Scotland Jason Pritchard finished a fine 12th overall and first in Group N on Rally of Scotland, despite sustaining a broken damper on the Intercontinental Rally Challenge qualifier. The 23-year-old Welshman said: “I’m delighted to finish and delighted with my performance, this was one of the most testing events I’ve done and I can’t thank my team enough, everyone delivered this weekend and I’m so pleased to finish first in my class and reward the hard work.” His North Road Garage (NRG)-backed Subaru Impreza suffered a broken damper on one of Saturday’s stages, which threatened to bring an early end to his rally due to a lack of parts.
10/05
ESPN: Travis Pastrana will race at X Games
Travis Pastrana isn't leaving the X Games, he said Tuesday -- he's leaving the Moto X Freestyle. Pastrana told ESPN he plans to compete in the Rally Car Racing events at X Games LA in 2012, and he may return to Moto X Freestyle competition in subsequent events.
Autoblog: Rare outing for Colin McRae Subaru Legacy at Rally of Scotland
This exquisite little number we're holding up is Colin McRae's Manx Rally-winning Subaru Legacy from 1991.
As lovely as it is - and I'd whipped it off the shelves of St Martin's Models in London before you could say 'turbo lag' - it is still only a 1:43 model and as we all know there's nothing like the real thing. Which is why if you're north of the border this weekend (7-9 October) you could do worse than getting along to Perthshire where McRae's father, Jimmy, will drive Colin's 1991 British Rally Championship-winning Legacy as course car on the Rally of Scotland, the penultimate round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. It's all part of the rally's partnership with the Colin McRae Vision charity which was set up in his memory to help underprivileged children.
10/02
Rally World News: RICHARD PUTS SUBARU ON TOP OF PODIUM AT PACIFIC FOREST RALLY
Pat Richard (Squamish, BC) and Alan Ockwell (Toronto) of Subaru Rally Team Canada won the Pacific Forest Rally, putting an end to a year long drought. The two were competing together for the first time this season, though together they won the 2008 and 2009 Canadian Rally Championship titles. “We took control of the event right from the start,” said Richard, who led most of the rally. “Then we had to manage the lead. Really, it was a clean run, with no drama. The car was flawless, Alan was great.”
Nascar: Pastrana says his X Games days are over Travis Pastrana wants to put his best foot forward -- literally and figuratively -- and that means no more participation in the X Games. In other words, Pastrana won't do anything else to jeopardize his plans to race stock cars.
09/29
MaxRally: Top Five Rally Racers
Former Production Car world champion Toshi Arai is set for a different type of challenge back at home in Japan next month – Suzuka’s round of the World Touring Car Championship. Arai will swap his usual Subaru Impreza Group N rally car for a fourth factory Chevrolet Cruze on October 24, alongside works drivers Yvan Muller (who is competing on the Rallye de France this weekend for the second consecutive year), Rob Huff and Alain Menu.
ESPN: Ken Block on balancing on four wheels
It sounds a little self-inflicting, but Ken Block actually took steps to make his life busier this year. After competing in seven of the 13 World Rally Championship events in 2010 -- and becoming the first American to score WRC points in 22 years -- Block, 43, is slated to enter nine races this year, including France, which is going on now, and the upcoming final two in Spain and the UK
09/27
Autoweek: WRC: Rallye de France Alsace stages to be streamed live online
The World Rally Championship will stream select stages from the Rallye de France Alsace, Sept. 29-Oct. 2, liveon its Web site, wrc.com, the series said on Monday. The WRC said the project is backed by series promoter North One Sport and is "meant to explore future digital opportunities for the series." The free, live stream is designed to gauge fan appetite for live online coverage and more interactive content, according to the WRC. The trial will also test the latest camera and streaming technology.
09/26
Marathon Rally: Australasian Safari: Fast and tough 3rd stage for the cars - T2´s braked out. One production-car we didn´t often see the last days: The Subaru Forester of Robert Herridge and Tim Batten. For this crew it´s the first Safari Rally, especially with this car. "For us its an experience" Herridge told. "We normally are driving car-rallys with Subaru, so the people asked my, why not to drive a offroad rally with the Forester."
Checkered Flag: Rally Driver Toshi Arai To Race For Chevrolet In WTCC At Suzuka
Japanese rally driver Toshi Arai will make his circuit racing debut at his home round of the World Touring Car Championship at Suzuka, driving a fourth factory Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T. Arai, 45, won the Production World Rally Championship in both 2005 and 2007 as part of a long association with Subaru. He had the chance to test the Cruze at Pembrey in Wales last Thursday.
09/25
Rallybuzz: Helöise remains gaining experience over the Italian tarmac
With the last special night stage of Ronde that has a length of 44 kilometres still remaining, the crew formed by a native of the Caribbean island of Martinique, Johan Helöise, who co-drives with the Frenchman “Tibo” Gorczyca their Subaru Impreza WRX STI N12 by Top Run continues the experimental knowledge phase and vehicle setup in the hands of the mentioned Helöise.
Western Advocate (AU): South and Gentleman dominate the Bathurst Rally
The Subaru WRX of Michael South and Kirrilee Gentleman has withstood a punishing day of high speed racing to take out the 2011 Peter Rodgers Real Estate Bathurst Rally on Saturday.
09/24
Rallye-Info: Neuville wins IRC thriller by 1.5s
Florian Gonon claimed his third victory in the inaugural IRC Production Cup after heading home Italian Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancer driver Marco Cavigioli by a comfortable margin. Gonon, driving a Subaru Impreza, was fastest in the category on all but one stage. Irishman Eamonn Boland was third with Corrado Perino fourth. Johan Heloise failed to finish.
Rallybuzz: The Rally Argentino drivers will know both faces of San Luis
The Argentine Rally Championship will be heading to the west of Argentina to San Luis this weekend where it will take place the eighth round of the season. This new showdown will represent a completely new challenge for the drivers since they will be tackling a mix-surfaced event for the first time this year.
09/23
Crash.net (UK): WRC 2012 calendar finalised
The FIA's World Motor Sport Council confirmed the calendar for the 2012 World Rally Championship this week.
Best of Rally Live!: Luis and the Sanremo
With a record of 161 WRC starts to his name (which puts him in second place, level with Phil Mills), Luis Moya spent his entire world class career sitting alongside just one driver, Carlos Sainz. From 1988 until 2002, Luis didn’t call out pace notes for anybody but ‘El Matador’, yet the two Spaniards never succeeded in winning the Rallye Sanremo, despite 13 attempts. That said, they did clinch their 1990 world title in Italy.
Yahoo! Sport UK & Ireland: Heloise targets Subaru upgrade in 2012
French driver Johan Heloise could contest more rounds of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge in 2012 – if plans to drive an R4-specification Subaru Impreza reach fruition
Yahoo! Sport UK & Ireland: WRC confirms new qualifying shakedown
The World Motor Sport Council has confirmed the structure of shakedown qualifying for next year's World Rally Championship.Crews will be given a two-hour window in which they are permitted a maximum of two passes through the stages. After that, and running in championship order, the crews will then take one qualifying run.
09/22
Autoweek: Rally America sold; series unveils 2012 schedule and goals
Rally America on Thursday announced that it has new ownership, higher goals and a 2012 schedule in place. The organization, founded in 2002 by former rally driver and team owner Doug Havir, has been responsible for promoting and sanctioning the Rally America Championship since its formation in 2005. Prior to that, it promoted and sanctioned the SCCA ProRally Championship.
09/20
Autonet (CA): From rock star back to reality
Following two days of rally school, a day of practice, one prologue day, and a full five days of competitive racing, I'm sad, happy and ultimately relieved the 2011 Targa Newfoundland is in the books. Let it be known, this was no cake walk.
09/19
Paddock Talk: Last Ditch Racing Pushes To Finish At Rallye Defi!
Driver John Cassidy and Co-Driver Jennifer Daly started Friday's stages with a failing front differential and an elusive oil leak near the turbocharger, which continued to cause considerable smoke in, and around, the car all weekend. The front differential began to make odd noises on the transit to the first super special Friday, and the crew feared that their event could be over that day. The crew were concerned the turbo might be failing, so it was replaced with a spare unit prior to the event start. The spare turbo was a smaller unit and the only restrictor the team had that fit was smaller than the diameter required, meaning they'd be down on power all weekend.
09/17
Nascar: Once recovered, Pastrana to focus on NASCAR
Travis Pastrana was difficult to miss Saturday at Chicagoland Speedway. There was only one figure in the Sprint Cup garage hobbling on crutches, wearing a pink cast around his right foot, and signing autographs for an ever-expanding group of fans. The motocross and rally star was at a NASCAR track for the first time since suffering a broken right foot and ankle trying to land a difficult motorcycle trick during the X Games in late July. That injury scuttled not only Pastrana's plans to make his Nationwide Series debut that weekend in Indianapolis, but also the entire limited schedule he had planned to run for the team he co-owns along with Michael Waltrip.
09/16
DriveSouth (NZ): Paddon's production world rally title highlight of weekend
Never mind the All Blacks' opening win over Tonga last Friday night (dilemmas for the selectors maybe, but no injuries to ABs, thank goodness), nor the stunning spectacle of England taking on Argentina in our fabulous new stadium on Saturday (rubbish game, saved by the great big-match atmosphere). The highlight of my sporting weekend came late on Sunday afternoon when I logged on to the world rally championship results site, to find that Hayden Paddon had made it to the end of Rally Australia at the head of the Production World Rally Championship field.
09/14
Stuff (NZ): Hayden Paddon chasing WRC drive in Wales
South Canterbury's newest world champion, Hayden Paddon, could yet get a chance this year to fulfil his biggest dream. After he was the first Kiwi to claim the Production World Rally Championship crown at Coffs Harbour at the weekend, plans are afoot to see if he can get a drive in the World Rally Championship's final round in Wales in November.
09/13
Examiner (CA): Targa Newfoundland: first leg results
The first leg of the Targa Newfoundland left St. John’s for Gander yesterday. The 140 competitors are in four different classes, Targa Classic, Targa Modern, Targa Open and Grand Touring. There were a few problems here and there, but nearly everyone’s still in the running for the second leg, underway today. It is possible to run further legs without completing all of the stages in a previous one.
09/12
Newswire (CA): Two podium positions for Subaru at Rallye Defi Ste-Agathe
Subaru is still well-positioned to fight for the Manufacturer's Championship following Rallye Defi held in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Sainte-Lucie-des-Laurentides, Saint-Donat, Montcalm, Saint-Sixte, Ripon and Montpellier, Quebec, on September 9-10. Two Subaru teams reached the podium and seven Subaru entrants finished in the top ten. Subaru Rally Team Canada driver Pat Richard and co-driver Leanne Junnila battled for first place and were leading the event overall in terms of stage times; however, the duo found themselves penalized with exclusion in an unfortunate turn of events at the end of the first day. Finishing in second place were Leo Urlichich and Martin Brady in a 2007 Subaru Impreza WRX STI, while Craig Henderson and Lyne Murphy claimed third in their 2005 Subaru Impreza WRX STI.
ESPN: Evidence rules McRae at fault for crash
X Games silver medalist and WRC rally champion Colin McRae may be gone, but four years after the fatal crash, charities drive on in the spirit of McRae's favored quote, "When in doubt, flat out." UK Investigators now say McRae flew his helicopter dangerously low on the day he lost control and crashed into the trees near his home in Lanark, Scotland. In spite of the tragedy, peers and fans alike understand that the same willingness to take calculated risks can also end in disaster. Though the rally world mourned the sudden loss, family and friends have taken up McRae's name for charity events to carry on his legacy.
Oyetimes (CA): 2011 Targa Newfoundland - 10 years of rallying across the Island For a period of seven days, from September 10-17th, Newfoundland will be hosting its tenth annual Targa. The Targa Newfoundland is an annual, world renowned, event that features over 70 competitors of various vehicle classes who will embark on a 2200 km competitive adventure through over 70 communities, over half of which will host competitive stages. Drivers make their way along the coast stopping by local schools, academies and community centres to show off their cars, raise money for charity and have fun. This takes up about 80% of the event, while the other 20% is occupied by competitive sections where drivers can earn or loose points in an effort to attain a lowest score and receive one of three awards: The Finishers Medallion for finishing 75% of the course, the Targa Plate for 100% of the course, and finally, the Christos Targa that is awarded to the team with the least amount of points. On the other side, a Grand Touring or leisurely completion is also available for drivers who would like to take it easy but still compete. Drivers aim to complete the closed road stages within a given time period, with point deductions in the case of running under or over the set time.
09/11
WRC: PWRC wrap: Paddon wins rally, claims title
Hayden Paddon is the provisional Production Car world champion for 2011 after he topped the class on Rally Australia. Paddon, who started the event in the knowledge that 25 points would put the title beyond the reach of his rivals, adopted a cautious approach on the final morning to clinch the crown in his Subaru Impreza.
Performance Car (NZ): Hayden Paddon wins Production Class World Championship
Kiwi race ace Hayden Paddon has done it, he’s taken out the Production Class of the World Rally Championship for 2011. Paddon and his trusty Subaru WRX STI took the title, with two rounds to spare, after winning the production category at Rally Australiayesterday.
Inside Track: L'ESTAGE CRUISES TO SIXTH CAREER RALLYE DEFI WIN
Antoine L'Estage (St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC) and Nathalie Richard (Halifax) knew that the 2011 Rallye Defi would be won on the first two stages of the event. “That's what happened last year,” said L'Estage. “We took maybe 45 seconds lead there last year and managed that to the end.” This year, the team opened up a lead over the first two stages, though only 3.9 seconds over Pat Richard (Squamish, BC) and Leanne Junnila (Calgary). However an error forced Richard and Junnila to cover extra distance prior to the first stage, and the team ran out of fuel after the first stage. They were towed to the refueling location – against the rules – and continued in the rally.
09/08
The Capital: Pastrana set for Maryland enshrinement
Annapolis native and action sports superstar Travis Pastrana will be inducted into the Maryland State Athletic Hall of Fame on Thursday, Nov. 10 (6-10 p.m.) at Michael's Eighth Avenue in Glen Burnie. Pastrana, who now resides in Davidsonville, has excelled in Motocross racing, motorcycle jumping and rally cars. He is currently pursuing stock car racing with the goal of one day competing on the Sprint Cup circuit.
09/08
Yahoo! Sport UK & Ireland: Paddon chasing top-ten finish in Oz
New Zealander Hayden Paddon says he won't be distracted by his Production Car World Rally Championship aspirations on this week's Rally Australia - the Subaru driver is chasing a top-10 finish overall. Paddon has dominated this year's PWRC, winning the three events he's competed on to date, and another victory here would be enough to clinch him the championship. Despite the pressure of coming close to what would be the biggest victory of his career to date, the former Pirelli Star Driver said he will remain focused on showing more speed.
Not a Subaru but...
Jalopnik: Watch a rally driver win a race by running on two wheels
Last week, WRC champion Marcus Grönholm took to the British Rallycross Championships for the first time. When David Binks presses him for a lead pass, Grönholm takes his Fiesta on two wheels, Dukes of Hazard-style. The Duke boys always won, too.
09/07
IOL News (ZA): McRae blamed for fatal copter crash
Former World Rally champion Colin McRae has been blamed for the helicopter crash that killed him, his five-year-old son and two family friends in 2007. An enquiry into the accident at Lanark Sheriff court in Scotland found on Tuesday that McRae, 39, had carried out unnecessary low-level manoeuvres and his flying was both 'imprudent' and 'unreasonable'.
09/05
Stuff (NZ): History beckons rally driver Hayden Paddon
Hayden Paddon is on the verge of creating New Zealand rallying history. The 24-year-old Geraldine driver could this weekend become the first New Zealand driver, and in fact the first driver from the southern hemisphere, to win a world rally championship.
09/04
The Citizen Reporter (TZ): Brilliant Madagascar drivers race to the Kobil Rally glory
Dar es Salaam. Madagascar’s speed merchant Jean Yves Ranarivelo shrugged off stiff opposition from Zimbabwean Jamie Whyte to win the Kobil Rally title in a dramatic finish.Navigated by Ranaivamampianini in Subaru Impreza, Ranarivelo becomes the sixth foreign driver to win the Tanzanian round of African Rally Championship (ARC) after Ugandans Riyaz Kurji, Belgian Patrick Emontspool, Zambian Muna Singh, Japanese Hideaki Miyoshi and Zimbabwean Jamie Whyte.
Voxy (NA): Paddon has chance to secure Australia rally
New Zealand's top rally driver Hayden Paddon heads to next weekend's World Rally Championship event in Australia with the history-making possibility of becoming the first ever competitor from the Southern Hemisphere to win a world rally title. Paddon, a 24-year-old from Geraldine, with his Blenheim-based co-driver John Kennard, are understandably excited about the possibility of wrapping up the 2011 FIA Production World Rally Championship at Rally Australia, running in the Coffs Coast region of New South Wales from 8 to 11 September. But the Kiwis know they have a job to do and that's to finish the event, and finish well.
09/01
Newsday (WZ): Rautenbach, Whyte in Tanzania Rally
Top Zimbabwean drivers Conrad Rautenbach and Jamie Whyte will be main attractions when the FIA African Rally Championship series resumes on Friday at the Kobil Rally of Tanzania.
08/31
Physics Central: Physics of Driving in the Dirt
When I'm not sitting behind a desk blogging about physics you can find me and my son JP out racing through the dirt, mud and snow in JP's 2002 Subaru WRX. He has to drive it to school too, so we do our level best to keep from knocking pieces off during our weekends running with the Sports Car Club of America Rally Cross crowd.
MSN New Zealand: On the spot with Hayden Paddon Between countless racing events and endless pace notes, it's easy to see why Hayden Paddon is New Zealand's Rally Champion. We caught up with Hayden before the World Rally Championship in Australia.
New Zealand Herald: Motorsport: Paddon up against rivals' local knowledge
New Zealander Hayden Paddon knows he will have to counter local knowledge as he looks to wrap up the production world rally championship (PWRC) in Australia.
AllAfrica: Zimbabwe: Conrad Rautenbach Hires Subaru
ACE Zimbabwean motor rally driver Conrad Rautenbach is taking no chances in his quest to land this year's FIA African Rally Championship crown as he has hired a Subaru Impreza N16 for this weekend's Kobil Rally of Tanzania.
08/23
Autoweek: Recapping a Great U.S. Rally Season
It feels like only yesterday when my co-driver, Craig Drew, and I were doing our first event in January in our new Subaru. Now, after 286,000 air miles, the season is effectively over and we've earned the Rally America Championship, a new record at Mt. Washington and--to top things off--a bronze medal at ESPN's X Games.
08/18
Autosport (UK): Q & A: Daniel Elena on Sebastien Loeb's decision to carry on rallying
Having already downloaded the Sebastien Loeb's thoughts on remaining with Citroen in the World Rally Championship for another two years, AUTOSPORT's David Evans sought out the opinion of the man closest to him - Daniel Elena. Elena has shared every one of Loeb's 66 wins and seven titles as his co-driver in the Citroen squad. Here's what the 38-year-old Monagasque had to say about the deal, and why, for him, it means the continuation of a truly great partnership.
08/17
Red Bull: Classic WRC | 2004 Rallye Deutschland
The 2004 WRC Rallye Deutschland was memorable both for rally winner Sébastien Loeb and the then-defending world champion Petter Solberg. The German event was introduced to the WRC calendar for 2002, when Sébastien Loeb took his maiden WRC victory in the new Citroën Xsara WRC, during a season where Citroën competed in just seven events as they built up to a full championship entry for 2003. That next year, Loeb and his fully-fledged team took victory again, but it was Subaru’s Petter Solberg who won the championship by a single point after winning at Rally GB in Wales.
08/16
Stuff (NZ): Paddon's sights on World Rally Championship
BUSY BOY: Hayden Paddon is hoping to secure the Production World Rally Championship title in Australia next month and grab the attention of the deal-makers who matter in the sport. Geraldine's Hayden Paddon has more than the Production World Rally Championship title on his mind.
08/09
Autoweek: Video: David Higgins's record-breaking run at Mt. Washington Climb to the Clouds
Subaru Rally Team USA driver David Higgins set a new record at this year's Climb to the Clouds at Mt. Washington in New Hampshire on July 26. Higgins, driving his Subaru WRX STi rally car, made the run up the 7.6-mile mountain road in 6 minutes, 11.54 seconds--shaving nearly 30 seconds off the old record time, which was set by Frank Sprongl in 1998.
07/04
CNW (CA): SUBARU'S RICHARD SECOND AT BAIE DES CHALEURS, SECOND IN CHAMPIONSHIP
The road to the podium was filled with plenty of unexpected twists and turns for Subaru Rally Team Canada driver Pat Richard and co-driver Leanne Junnila. The drama-filled Rallye Baie des Chaleurs was especially eventful for the Subaru team as they dealt with damaged lights, dodged a deer and recovered from a rear suspension failure, costing the duo five minutes of critical time. After surrendering the lead to Antoine L'Estage, the Subaru team recovered and ended with just a 20-second deficit and a second-place finish in the third rally of the season.
06/30
The Press (NZ): Hayden Paddon's passion for speed
Hayden Paddon loves driving rally cars. It's what he has wanted to do since he was 12 driving his first car, a Mini, around paddocks and roads in Canterbury. His dream is to one day be world rally champion, and he is so desperate to achieve his goal that most weeks he lives on just $50.
Autoweek: Formula One: Ken Block too tall to test F1 car?
Gymkhana star and X Games rally competitor Ken Block is supposed to test Pirelli's ex-Toyota Formula One test car at Italy's Monza circuit in August, but the 43-year-old appears to have a problem: He's too tall
06/29
Motor Authority: Subaru WRX STI Attacks Nurburgring 24 Hour Qualifying: Video
Hot laps of the Nurburgring never get old, especially when they're done in modified all-wheel-drive turbocharged production cars like the Subaru WRX STI. This video meets all of the above, and adds in the drama of being shot during qualifying for the Nurburgring 24 Hour, which took place this past weekend.
06/28
ESPN: Dave Mirra not on BMX invite list at X17
Wait? Dave Mirra isn't riding X Games this year? Truth be told, Dave is not on the list of invited riders this year. According to sources close to Mirra, including former Mirraco team rider Ryan Guettler, "Mirra is thinking more about Rally."
Autoevolution: Subaru Proves Its Might With Class Win at Nurburgring
The Impreza STI has claimed an impressive class win at the infamous 24 Hour Nurburgring race this weekend. The WRX STI tS, which was specially prepared by Subaru Tecnica International (STI), the firm’s in-house motorsport division, completed 142 laps (approx 3,603km) in 24 hours - 76km further than the car managed in 2010.
06/27
Jalopnik: Subaru sets new fastest time up Mt. Washington Driving a rally-prepped Subaru WRX STi, David Higgins shaved 30 seconds off the top time for the annual Mt. Washington Hill Climb on Sunday, reconnoitering the 7.6 mile circuit in 6 minutes, 11.54 seconds.
Autoblog: Pikes Peak Wrapup: Monster Tajima breaks 10-minute barrier, captures sixth consecutive victory
The Monster has taken the mountain. The wind was whipping wildly, yet the sun shone brightly on one particular Colorado peak. We imagine if felt like a spotlight for Nobuhiro Tajima – the Japanese Hill Climb pilot managed to reduce his 2007 Pikes Peak record time by just over 10 seconds. Monster had said his goal was simply to break his own record, but we all knew he wanted to get under the 10-minute barrier. He did just that – and then some. Clearly, the adjusted setup applied to the Monster Sport Suzuki SX4 Hill Climb Special, has paid off. The new time to beat at Pike's Peak is 9:51.278.
Maine Sports: Maine driver relishing job teaching rally racing
As age 12, Chris Duplessis from Mason Township near Bethel and his dad, Richard, met Tim O’Neil, owner/instructor of Team O’Neil Rally School and Car Control Center at the Climb to the Clouds race at Mount Washington. No other performance driving school would train students as young as Duplessis, yet O’Neil saw something in the young man that caught his attention. “I first met Chris and his father several years ago,” said O’Neil. “His father asked me if I could train Chris because no other driving schools would at 12 years old. He was already a go-kart champion at the time.”
06/26
Rally World News: David Higgins Takes Mt. Washington Record.
David Higgins made Mt. Washington Climb to the Clouds History as he crossed the line in 6 minutes 19 seconds during his first full-length timed run of Sunday morning. Higgins was just over a second faster than his Subaru Rally Team USA teammate Travis Pastrana who ran the Mt. Washington Auto Road in a similar car to promote the return of the hillclimb last fall. The prior record set by Frank Sprongl in 1998 is 6:41.99 and has stood for 13 years.
06/25
New York Times: Surviving Heart of the Storm, and Aiming for the Peak
For now, Christy Carlson has traded in a storm-chasing partner for a racecourse navigator. Instead of following a severe storm in the Midwest and hearing, “You need to take a right on Highway 77,” as she put it, the person sitting on the right side of her black-and-gray 2002 Subaru WRX on Sunday will bark different information: descriptions of the 156 curves that lie ahead on the 12.42-mile gravel-and-pavement road running to the summit of Pikes Peak.
06/23
Jalopnik: What’s the most awesome Nürburgring lap video?
It's become the Internet-age yardstick for automotive performance: The Nürburgring lap video. In some cases, it's the most eagerly-awaited part of a new-car launch. Naturally, some such videos are spectacular, others just run-of-the-mill. What's the most awesome Nürburgring lap video?
06/21
Jalopnik: Travis Pastrana spoofs Ken Block with "sexy" old ladies
Travis Pastrana's debuted his new Subaru WRX livery for the upcoming X-Games by taking a shot directly at Ken Block, AARP style. Remember the Ken Block Swedish cheerleaders he used to reveal his new WRC Ford Fiesta? Travis Pastrana has is own cheerleaders now. They just have a combined age of 225.
Colorado Springs Gazette: 4 women drivers likely to set Pikes Peak Hill Climb record
It’s days until Sunday's Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and already one record will likely be broken. Four women, three driving cars and one a motorcycle, plan to be racing to the peak’s summit, which is more than in any other year
Automobile: Update: Foust Steals SuperRally Win From Marcus Gronholm, Officials Steal Win Back
Few people have beaten Finnish rally driver Marcus Grönholm, but Tanner Foust, host of Top Gear USA, can now join the club of those who have. Foust was able to overtake Grönholm during the head-to-head SuperRally competition last week, during the Global Rallycross Pikes Peak finale — which, Ford’s happy to point out, was capped off by Fiestas sweeping the podium.
06/19
The Motor Report: Subaru Liberty B4 GT300 Race Car Heading To Melbourne
The STI-developed Legacy B4 GT300 is powered by a 2.0 litre turbocharged boxer, churning out upwards of 225kW and packing all-wheel-drive and a six-speed sequential transmission.
Rallysport Magazaine (AU): RALLY BLOG: Loeb the best ever. Or is he?
A master on gravel, tarmac, ice and snow, Loeb is clearly the best driver in the WRC, and his record of seven world titles and 65 wins at the top level will surely never be broken. But does that make Loeb the greatest rally driver ever?
06/17
New Hampshire Business Review: Rally school is driven to a national reputation
When racing through the narrow, thicketed roads at the Team O'Neil Rally School, the last thing most drivers expect to see blocking the path is a baby's car seat. "Oh, they crush them, they take them out hard," said school founder and rally driving champion Tim O'Neil. "The people with kids, they feel really bad."
Teaching students the emergency driving skills to avoid such unforeseen obstacles is one of the primary goals of the rally school, which, from its unassuming location in Dalton, in the foothills of the White Mountains, has become one of the preeminent (and only) rally schools in the nation.
TopSpeed: Subaru and Cosworth prepare new 1.6 liter boxer engine
Subaru has announced its partnership with Cosworth for the development of a new 1.6-liter boxer four-cylinder turbo engine. Italian magazine Autosprint reports that the new engine will be launched in 2012 when Subaru will bring out the new generation Impreza.
06/15
The Leader: PRESSING ON REGARDLESS: SubaRoots Rally Team Races Forward
Matthew Noble Marker realized his passion at a young age, followed that passion and never once took his foot off the gas in his pursuit to master the art of rally racing. Marker passed away in an accident during the sixth competitive stage of the Olympus Rally in Ocean Shores, Wash. on April 30.
06/14
Rallysport Magazine (AU): RALLY BLOG: Gone too soon
The death last week of Chinese Rally Champion, Liu Chao Dong, sadly adds to the number of top class rally drivers who have left us far too soon. It’s a known fact that motorsport is dangerous and that there will occasionally be fatalities at events, but thankfully, these are rare. In fact many of the top drivers who have gone long before their time have died as a result of accidents or illnesses of a non-competitive nature.
06/13
Formula1: Rally star Block to sample Formula One car
Tyre manufacturers Pirelli have announced ’Gymkhana’ legend and World Rally Championship star Ken Block is to be given the chance to drive their Formula One test car. Block will get behind the wheel on August 5 for a one-off drive at the famed Monza circuit in Italy.
06/12
KOAA: Entries From Ten Countries Set For The 89th Pikes Peak International Hill Climb On June 26
Drivers and racers from ten nations, France, Italy, Japan, Spain, New Zealand, Sweden, Mexico, Australia, Great Britain and the USA, will challenge the terrain and the altitude during the world's most famous hill climb- the 89th Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, on Sunday, June 26. It all began in 1916 and this one could be special. A field of 194 drivers and racers is set for the thrills and unexpected twists and turns in America's second oldest motor sports race at 9:00 a.m. The race is staged on a 12.42 mile course with 156 turns. It begins at 9,390 feet and ends at the famous mountain's 14,110-foot summit above Colorado Springs
ESPN: New Isle of Man speed record
On Friday, Mark Higgins returned to his birthplace to claim his place in motorsport history by breaking the existing speed record at Isle of Man in a production Subaru WRX STI. He raced the lap alone with a speed of 115.356 mph in 19 minutes, 37 seconds. A speck of land in the sea between Ireland and England, the Isle of Man is to motorcycle racing what Monaco is to F1. Tony Pond set the previous record there in 1990, clocking 102 mph in 22 minutes, 9-seconds in a Rover V6 827 Vitesse. His record, which took two years of attempts, went untouched for two decades.
06/10
Autoweek: The new Subaru STI rally car: From concept to victory
Building a new car from a clean sheet of paper to a rolling chassis is a dream of every driver and engineer. My team at Vermont SportsCar wanted to create the perfect Subaru STI rally car and did just that with our latest specification rally car, which we debuted at the 2011 Olympus Rally. The team's head engineer and the rest of the staff, who have had their hands in the build and design of the car, left no stone unturned when they designed our new STI rally car, named the VT10 internally at the shop.
06/07
People Magazine: Nitro Circus Star Travis Pastrana Is Engaged
Daredevil motocross rider Travis Pastrana performed his best trick yet last weekend – he pulled a ring out of his pocket. The star of MTV's Nitro Circus proposed to longtime girlfriend Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins in Las Vegas during an exhibition motocross event on Saturday night.
Bleacher Report: Travis Pastrana's Marriage Proposal to Lyn-Z Hawkins Highlights Nitro Circus
If crazy wacky fun is your bag, you may have wanted to take on Vegas this week. Travis Pastrana presented his answer to all things fun in his Nitro Circus. You may describe it as one part circus mixed with a ton of extreme sports exhibition. There was plenty of high flying antics. The big ramp was assembled in full grandeur. There was even a romantic item to the event. Travis Pastrana, the circus' founder and participant, got down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend professional skater, Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins.
Coffs Coast Advocate (AU): Home soil rally has extra thrill
WHEN Australia's most successful rally driver, Chris Atkinson, describes what it's like to drive in a round of the World Rally Championship on home soil, it's little wonder he's desperate to drive when the big show comes to the Coffs Coast in September
06/06
Rallybuzz: Subaru Driver David Higgins Wins Dramatic STPR by mere 1.3 Seconds
Subaru Rally Team USA driver David Higgins and co-driver Craig Drew have won the Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally (STPR), round five of the 2011 Rally America National Championship, by a mere 1.3 seconds over rival Antoine L’Estage. Higgins and L’Estage battled back and forth throughout the event with Higgins staging a late rally comeback that saw him take the rally lead on the penultimate stage after overcoming a thirty-seven second deficit midway through the final day of action. The amazingly close finish came after over 120 stage miles spanning two days of competition on high-speed forest roads of north-central Pennsylvania. The win at STPR is Higgins’ third victory in a row in the series and extends his points lead in the Rally America National Championship standings heading into the sixth and final round next month, the New England Forest Rally.
Autoweek: Rally America: David Higgins wins Susquehannock Trail Rally by slim margin
Subaru Rally Team USA's David Higgins and co-driver Craig Drew won the 2011 Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally (STPR) in Pennysylvania by a narrow margin of 1.3 seconds over rivals Antoine L'Estage and Nathalie Richard. Higgins had a 37 second deficit halfway through day two after losing his intercom at the start of Stage 8 and puncturing a tire on Stage 9, but came back to lead the rally by 2.5 seconds going into the final stage. It was the third time Higgins scored the outright STPR win in his career, having won the event in 2002 and 2003.
Rallybuzz: Shaun White Upgrades to Mud in Latest BFGoodrich® Tires Driving Experience
Professional athlete Shaun White is branching out from the thrill of asphalt at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and taking to the mud of Old Mill Adventure Park as he continues to upgrade his driving performance with BFGoodrich® Tires in Chapter 3 of the “Upgrade to BFGoodrich” campaign. The automotive enthusiast spent time behind the wheel of a full-bore rally car at DirtFish Rally School in Snoqualmie, Wash., to learn the basics of rally driving from experts in this unique motorsport. His latest adventures will debut today in an interactive experience at www.bfgoodrichtires.com/shaunwhite.
Visor Down: A new four-wheeled TT record today? MANX rally driver Mark Higgins is set to make a demonstration lap around the 37-mile TT course this afternoon. While officially just a demonstration, the closed-course lap is surely begging to be used to break the 21-year-old record for a four-wheeled lap time around the TT course. Back in 1990, rally driver Tony Pond managed an average of 102mph in a stock Rover 827 Vitesse.
05/09
Jalopnik: The $500 Craigslist rally car returns to Mexico Bill Caswell made history a year ago when his old, thrown-together $500 Craigslist BMW triumphed over $400K race cars to make the podium at the WRC Rally Mexico. For Caswell, our story about his exploits changed his life and made him a semi-star.
05/08
ESPN: Matthew Marker dies in rally accident
The rally racing community suffered a shock last Saturday when driver Matthew Marker died in an accident at the Olympic Rally in southwestern Washington state. The sport hadn't seen a competition-related death in North America since 2003.
05/07
Michelin: Prodrive’s number games If you think the registration numbers on the new MINI John Cooper Works WRCs look familiar, don’t be surprised! The numbers 1 WRC and 2 WRC have been the property of Prodrive – the team which runs the new cars – for some years.
EnergyFM (UK): Evans win on Manx Rally
Melvyn Evans has won the Manx Telecom Rally in his Subaru Impreza WRC and now joins the elite list of drivers who have done so on three occasions. The popular Welshman was victorious in 2002 and 2008 and this time, partnered by Patrick Walsh, his margin was substantial – nearly four minutes after 120 miles of stages, but he managed to stay clear of a tremendous tussle going on behind him for the remaining podium places.
Rallybuzz: BNT MASON MOTORSPORT 2nd AFTER FIRST DAY OF RALLY NEW ZEALAND
Another heady, measured drive in treacherous conditions has rewarded double New Zealand Rally Champion Richard Mason and Co-driver wife Sara, with second place after the first day of the 41st edition of Rally New Zealand. Torrential overnight rain transformed the condition of the roads, and crews who had completed the pre-rally reconnaissance yesterday were shocked to find flowing water across sections of the opening stage and much softer surfaces on the others.
05/06
Yahoo! Sport UK & Ireland: Stohl: Corsica extended test for Subaru
Manfred Stohl, whose Stohl Racing team will be responsible for running Subaru’s Intercontinental Rally Challenge campaign in 2011, says Tour de Corse-E.Leclerc will be used as an extended test session for the Japanese manufacturer. Subaru is fielding an all-new R4-specification Impreza WRX STI for Toshi Arai on the island rally, one of six IRC events it will tackle this season in conjunction with tyre firm Yokohama.
Rallybuzz: IRC Event Preview: Tour de Corse-E.Leclerc
Just under a month after the thrilling four-way battle for victory on Rally Islas Canarias El Corte Ingles electrified fans around the world, the chase for Intercontinental Rally Challenge glory resumes on the Mediterranean island of Corsica from 12-14 May with a live television spectacular.
04/12
Rallybuzz: The World is Watching: Olympus Rally Comes to WA State
The Rally America National Championship schedule resumes at the end of April with its two-event West Coast Swing in Washington and Oregon. The Olympus Rally April 30th-May 1st runs along the beautiful shorelines of Washington State's Olympic Peninsula. More than 50 top teams representing the United States, Canada and Great Britain will travel to the seaside community of Ocean Shores, WA for the third round of six Rally America National Championship events. The season has already delivered surprising results. Perhaps the biggest surprise comes from privateer New Hampshire driver Travis Hanson, a Super Production Class competitor, who currently leads the overall Championship over many quicker, factory supported Open Class teams. Hanson, a rally school instructor from Littleton, NH, and his father, Terry from Traverse City, Michigan drew a line in the snow by winning the season opening Sno*Drift Rally in Atlanta, Michigan last January 2011.
ESPN: Q&A: Travis Pastrana on 'Nitro Circus'
Action sports are heading back to Sin City. X Games legend Travis Pastrana is bringing the North American debut of "Nitro Circus Live" to the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on June 4. The event, a touring version of the MTV show "Nitro Circus," is filled with daring stunts and tricks that Pastrana and his team have created. Pastrana, a 17-time X Games medalist, talks with Page 2 about the live show, the movie he's making about it and just how far these stunts will go:
04/11
Autosport (UK): Further delay to Jordan build-up
The troubled build-up to this year's Jordan Rally has continued, with mechanical problems on the boat carrying the majority of the World Rally Championship's equipment set to further delay the start of the set up process at the Dead Sea.
Autosport (UK): Delays unlikely to halt Jordan Rally
Despite continued transport problems, the Jordan Rally is expected to go ahead as planned - with the recce starting on Tuesday morning in standard road cars. The boat transporting the recce cars and all the teams' kit from Italy to Israel has been delayed by an engine problem, but is expected to dock just in time for the teams to make the event happen.
Autoweek Racing: NASCAR: Pastrana to run K&N Pro race in Richmond
Travis Pastrana will make his East Coast oval-track stock-car debut in the April 28 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at Richmond International Raceway. The popular motocross and X Games star made his K&N West debut in February at Phoenix, where he started 10th and crashed out to a 25th-place three laps from the finish.
04/08
Autosport (UK): Jordan recce delayed by boat issue
he recce for next week's Jordan Rally has had to be put back by a day due to the boat transporting all the equipment arriving later than expected. The logistics of the World Rally Championship's move from Portugal to the next round in Jordan had to be tweaked at the last minute due to the political unrest in Syria.
04/07
Brisbane Times (AU): SUV rally championship in 2012
Soft-roaders from brands such as Subaru and Toyota could soon be tackling twisting dirt roads following an announcement from the Australian Rally Championship that there will be a new SUV contest in 2012. The new rally championship category comes as a direct result of a call for an SUV competition from Subaru Australia’s managing director Nick Senior at the launch of the hardcore S-Edition Forester late in 2010.
04/01
Autosport (UK): FIA, teams confirm Jordan presence
The FIA and the World Rally Championship teams have confirmed their attendance at the Jordan Rally - with last-minute planning ensuring a new route for the trucks carrying the kit into the Dead Sea. All the logistics for the WRC - Ford, Citroen, Michelin and North One Sport - will now go in through the Israeli port of Haifa before heading south-east to cross the border into Jordan.
Youtube: Onboard with Stephan Verdier at Global RallyCross Irwindale
03/31
RallyBuzz: Video: Sights and sounds with Dave Mirra at Rd.1 of Global Rallycross Championship Debuting an all-new 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI, Subaru Rally Team USA driver Dave Mirra finished an impressive fourth overall in round one of the newly announced three-event Global Rallycross Championship in the debut event’s A-Main Final. The BMX icon and full time rally driver for Subaru enjoyed the first event of the new rallycross series which was held this weekend at California’s Irwindale Speedway and will be televised April 17th on ESPN2. The event featured a field of world class rally and rallycross drivers who raced wheel-to-wheel on a short action-packed course consisting of a mix of tarmac and dirt as well as a 70ft dirt gap jump. Mirra debuted a new 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI specially prepared for rallycross competition.
Youtube: Round 1 of 2011 Global Rallycross Championship: Sights & Sounds with Subaru Rally Team USA
03/30
Youtube: NZWRT 2011 Rally Portugal review
03/29
Autoevolution:David Higgins to Drive Demo Car Lap at Isle of Man TT Car manufacturer Subaru is to be the official car partner of the Isle of Man TT motorcycle road races, following a three-year deal with the IOMTT Government Department of Economic Development.
The automaker will thus provide the latest Subaru models for use by the TT organization to help manage the running of the event, including the course inspection and roads open and closed duties.
03/28
Rallye-Info: Dominant victory for Symtech in Portugal
Belgian team Symtech Racing, which is based in Grobbendonk, made a big impression on its debut in the 2011 Production car World Rally Championship. Its crew of Hayden Paddon and John Kennard dominated the Rally of Portugal in their Subaru Impreza STR11, ending the weekend with a clear victory margin of more than eight minutes in the Production category.
Youtube: Jimmy Keeney crashes at Global Rallycross Championship
03/27
TVNZ (NZ): Paddon delivers biggest winning margin
New Zealanders Hayden Paddon and John Kennard have won the production car category at Rally Portugal - a perfect outcome for their new Subaru-based international campaign. And to top it off the Kiwis delivered the largest winning margin - 7 minutes, 39.3 seconds - in the history of the feeder series to the World Rally Championship.
RallyBuzz: VIDEO: Marcus Grönholm wins Global RallyCross Championship finals at Irwindale
“The track was good to drive,” said Grönholm. “The competition was good with many good drivers… I want to come back and race here again this season.”
03/26
Stuff (NZ): Hayden Paddon leads WRC production class
New Zealanders Hayden Paddon and John Kennard lead the production car category of the Portuguese world rally championship event after the first day. Paddon won five of the day's six stages, building his lead throughout the day to hold an overnight advantage of 33.3 seconds over Norwegian driver Anders Grondal. Paddon and Kennard are competing in their brand-new Subaru Impreza WRX STI in the first of their production world rally championship events this weekend in Portugal.
Jalop[nik: Day one Global RallyCross Championship win for Marcus Gronholm
You would never guess two-time rally champion Marcus Gronholm hasn't raced in the WRC since the end of 2007 from his dominant Day 1 performance at the Global RallyCross Championship yesterday.
Youtube: 2011 WRC Portugal Patrick Flodin Flips
03/25
Perthsshire Advertiser (UK): Robert Reid is major player in motorsport
THE eagerly awaited Melbourne debut of F1 ace Paul di Resta will see another name added to the long list of Scots who have flourished behind the wheel. And Perthshire’s former world rally co-driving champion Robert Reid is keen to see more young Scottish talent make the grade in a range of motorsports. Three years ago the Big County farmer’s son was installed as performance director with the influential Motor Sports Association (MSA), with the remit of developing talent and promoting the international image of British motorsport.
03/24
Youtube: WRC: Rally Portugal - Block crashes on Shakedown
03/22
NZ Herald: Motorsport: Paddon fired up for Portugal rally
New Zealand rally driver Hayden Paddon can't wait to fire up his new Subaru car after three successful days of testing ahead of this weekend's Rally of Portugal. Portugal is Paddon's first of six events he has nominated for his production world rally championship (PWRC) campaign after finishing third overall in his first attempt last year.
03/18
Rallysport Magazine (AU): Solberg preparing for Pikes Peak Hill Climb
Petter Solberg is preparing for this year's Pikes Peak International Hill Climb with a pre-event test in the Andes Mountains in Argentina. The Norwegian, who is converting one of his Citroen C4 WRCs into a hillclimb machine, will test the car in Argentina after competing in the country's WRC event.
03/17
Brendan Reeves at the Tommi Makinen's Snow School
03/14
Autoweekracing: WRC champion Grönholm to compete in RallyCross event at Irwindale
wo-time World Rally champion Marcus Grönholm on Monday announced that he will race a Ford Fiesta in the first round of the Global RallyCross Championship, scheduled to take place at Irwindale Speedway near Los Angeles on March 25-26.
03/08
ESPN: DC Mountain Lab up for sale
After eight years housing professional snowboarders, hosting parties and serving as a backdrop for photo and video shoots, the DC Mountain Lab is up for sale. DC Shoes co-founder Ken Block, who bought the property in 2003, recently listed it with Sotheby's at an asking price just shy of $7 million.
03/05
Autosport (UK): Q & A: Block on Mexico tribulations
Ken Block is making his ninth World Rally Championship start in Mexico this week - and it marks the first time that he has returned to a round that he has already experienced. But repeated electrical problems have so far stymied his attempts to show what he can do. Block talked to AUTOSPORT about his tough start.
02/28
Jalopnik: 2011 Rally in the 100 Acre Wood in three minutes
An exciting and close Rally in the 100 Acre Wood was topped off by Travis Pastrana, who stopped by for a /surprise visit and rolled his car three times. It's easy to forget how to turn right.
02/27
Autoweek: Rally America: L'Estage, Richard win Rally in the 100 Acre Wood
Rally America competitors Antoine L'Estage and Nathalie Richard won this weekend's 2011 Rally in the 100 Acre Wood after a flawless drive from start to end. L'Estage set a blistering pace early on, winning 10 of the event's 15 special stages and finishing 17.7 seconds ahead of international rally ace David Higgins. The victory was particularly sweet for L'Estage, who celebrated his birthday on Saturday, the second and final day of the rally.
02/23
Autoweek: A new rally challenge
Welcome to my first AutoWeek column! It's great for me to be back rallying in the United States and, even better, to drive for Subaru Rally Team USA with Vermont SportsCar. There have been a lot of changes to the American rally scene since last time I was here in 2003. There is much more media coverage and a new and large fan base that I know is the result of guys such as Travis Pastrana, Ken Block and my teammate, Dave Mirra. There are also some new events, which I'm really looking forward to.
ESPN: Dave Mirra to race 100 Acre Wood Rally
The Rally-America National Championships continues into the last weekend of February, with the 100 Acre Wood Rally, held in Salem, Missouri on Feb. 25-26. And the reason you're reading about this in the BMX blog is because BMX legend Dave Mirra is planning to race the event, which is the second race of the Rally-America Championships Series.
02/21
ESPN: Nitro Circus heads to U.S. and Europe
The Circus is coming to the States. After a year's worth of shows in Australia and New Zealand, the Nitro Circus announced they're adding stops in Europe and North America to their 2011 Nitro Circus Live schedule, starting with a one-off show in Las Vegas in June. Details on cities and dates for the rest of the global tour will be announced in the next few weeks, once the tour's promoters hash out deals with arenas. But that first stop, they say, will be the biggest.
02/18
Subaru Motorsports Magazine: Linari finishes 5th in heavy snow in Sweden
The opening round of the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship (PWRC), Rally Sweden was held in Karlstad in southern Sweden from 10 - 13 February. This year was something of a turning point for the WRC with a newly-introduced World Rally Car formula, revised tyre regulations and the all new 'Power Stages' where bonus points are given out. Karlstad was blessed with an abundant amount of snow, and once this event, the only winter rally of the season kicked off, temperatures plummeted to as low as -18°C.
Autosport.com (UK): WRC teams expect more punctures
Ford and Citroen have admitted they expect punctures to become more of a regular feature of the World Rally Championship - following a spate of tyre failures from Michelin on last week's Rally Sweden. Citroen was quick to point out that it only had one genuine puncture, the other problems came due to its decision to lower the tyre pressure to widen the contact patch and get more traction and speed from the DS3 WRC.
02/17
Autoweek: WRC: Driving ban won't hinder Solberg Petter Solberg will continue to participate in the World Rally Championship despite a driving ban in Sweden, he said in a statement. The Norwegian driver was traveling to the fifth stage of Rally Sweden on Friday when he was pulled over by a police officer after being clocked going 70 mph in a 50-mph section of road.
02/15
Autoweek: WRC: Rally ace hits 205 mph on ice--in a Bentley
So why wouldn't you do this? Take a six-figure British luxury car and a four-time World Rally champ, then race the car on ice to a top speed of 205.48 mph. That's a world record. On ice. It's February. The winter doldrums are clearly taking hold across much of the globe, but this feat is impressive nonetheless.
02/13
Autosport (UK): Solberg's co-driver in surprise debut
Petter Solberg's co-driver Chris Patterson says the knowledge that he would have to hand over the driving for the final stage of Rally Sweden did not affect Solberg's performance on the opening World Rally Championship round of the season today.
"Petter remembered the bad bits in the stage, so he was calling what he remembered," he said. "We went very slowly in the bad bits and then accelerated hard in the fast sections. It really was good fun, but I've had messages from all over the world advising me to stick to the navigating!
Motorsport.com: P-WRC: Rally Sweden: Driver-by-driver event summary
DRIVER BY DRIVER SUMMARY
21 PATRIK FLODIN (SWE, Subaru Impreza, Michelin)
Day One 2010 PWRC runner-up Flodin began the Rally Sweden determined to repeat his untouchable performance last year and win the PWRC on his home event for the second year in a row. A shock second place to young Norwegian Champion Grøndal on the opening super special stage was followed by a difficult start to Day One proper when the Swede got his Subaru stuck in the snow for over a minute on SS2, leaving him in third.
02/09
ESPN: Robbie Maddison to Rally at X Games 17 This summer's X Games rally lineup is starting to look more like an action sports all-star challenge than a Rally America race. Wednesday afternoon, another action sports star not known for his skills on four wheels announced he plans to compete in this year's race. Freestyle motocross star Robbie Maddison, who is known for his distance-jumping records and innovative freestyle tricks -- and for launching his dirtbike atop the Arch de Triumph in Vegas on New Year's Eve 2009 -- is the latest action star jumping into the rally scene.
Steelville Star: Rally America returning to Steelville this month
The premier United States national rally series is returning to the Ozark foothills of Missouri on Friday and Saturday, February 25-26. The 2011 Rally in the 100 Acre Wood stands as the second event on the Rally America national championship calendar. Top drivers in several, classes of competition vehicles will come from three regions across the U.S. to drive on the best rally roads in America taking place in late Missouri winter weather.
The West (AU): Racing needs more relevance: Subaru
Subaru Australia boss Nick Senior has renewed his call for motor racing in Australia to be made more relevant to the automotive industry. Using the launch of its sporty Forester S-Edition as the backdrop, Mr Senior said the current V8 Supercar series disfranchised the majority of automotive companies in Australia and ignored the interests of young motoring fans.
02/07
CNW: SUBARU CLAIMS NINE OF TEN TOP SPOTS AT RALLYE PERCE NEIGE
Subaru teams dominated the field at the opening event of the 2011 Canadian Rally Championship, taking nine of the ten top places in the grueling Rallye Perce Neige near Maniwaki, Quebec. Subaru Rally Team Canada driver Patrick Richard and stand in co-driver Leanne Junnila went on the attack from the beginning, setting a blistering pace. In spite of an early one-minute penalty, after eight stages less than a minute separated Richard from rival Antoine L'Estage. Unfortunately, a broken wheel cost Richard seven minutes, and despite an aggressive charge in the final stages he was forced to settle for fourth position while L'Estage claimed the win.
02/06
Motorsport.com: CRC: Series Rallye Perce-Neige event summary Subaru Rally Team Canada driver Pat Richard (Squamish, BC) and stand in co-driver Leanne Junnila (Calgary) were the first team to tackle the stages in their Subaru Impreza STI. Attacking right from the start, they set the pace to beat for rivals L'Estage and Nathalie Richard in the Rockstar Mitsubishi. Both drivers hold multiple national titles, and after eight stages, the two teams were separated by less than one second.
02/04
Edmunds Inside Line: Toyota Mulls Return to Le Mans, WRC To return to the world rally scene, where Toyota won multiple driver and team championships in the '90s, Toyota will go with the new-shape Yaris compact, while equipping it with a new 1.6-liter turbo engine to fit the new front-drive WRC formula. A run of these new fast 1.6 Yaris sports models will have to be built and homologated and, with luck, some might even find their way to the U.S.
Autosport (UK): DMACK tyres to make WRC debut
Chinese tyre firm DMACK will make its debut on next week's Rally Sweden, running its tyres on the Ford Fiesta S2000 of former Junior World Rally champion Martin Prokop. DMACK and Michelin are the only tyre companies available to WRC competitors this season and the Chinese firm has put together its WRC range in just five months
02/02
IndianCarsBikes (IN): Video Time: Privateer bests Subaru rally team
Usually this kind of thing doesn’t happen too often, what with millions of dollars that automotive factories spend on their official racing outfits. Father-Son duo, Travis and Terry Hanson drove the wheels of their 2007 Subaru Impreza WRX STI to grab top honours at the Snowdrift 2011 at Atlanta, Michigan, beating Subaru’s factory rally car driven by former X-Games BMX champion Dave Mirra.
02/01
ESPN: Mirra finishes second in Sno*Drift Rally
Dave Mirra, BMX legend and current holder of the most X Games medals (24 to date), finished in second place at the season opening Sno*Drift Rally in Northern Michigan on Sunday. The finish was Mirra's best career rally placing. Mirra, driving a 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI rally car with co-driver Marshall Clarke, advanced up the leaderboard from fifth place to second place during the race and covered nearly 130 miles of snow and ice-covered roads with few mistakes.
01/30
RallyBuzz: Travis Who? Hanson Wins Sno*Drift 2011, Makes American Rallying History New to the Super Production class for 2011 is ex-factory driver and two-time MaxAttack! 2 Wheel Drive Rally Series Champion Lauchlin O'Sullivan. O'Sullivan and co-driver Scott Putnam experienced a series of setbacks starting early in the rally that saw them drop to 20th overnight, but they managed to climb up the standings and end the event placed 11th overall and fourth in class
Paddock Talk: Subaru Road Racing Team Leaves Daytona with Positive Results
Subaru Road Racing Team (SRRT) drivers Andrew Aquilante and Bret Spaude took the first green flag of the 2011 GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series season in 17th grid position within the 32-car Grand Sport field, but climbed to 13th by race finish after two-and-a-half hours of running on historic Daytona International Speedway.
Bleacher Report: Jason Bowles Wins NASCAR All-Star Showdown; Travis Pastrana Finishes Sixth
"Three-wide is awesome; I actually got to go four-wide sometimes. I had an awesome time out there. I am super pumped. This sport is so much fun out there and I've got a lot to learn." Pastrana went through the learning curve as both times under the breaks, the team made the adjustments on the car that were needed. "I've been tight, so I said I want it loose," Pastrana commented under the second segment. "Harry said loose is fast so I wanted to drop the Days of Thunder on this. So hopefully we don't spin the car out on the first lap as we drop the hammer on this one."
01/28
Motorsport.com: Subaru Rally Team USA Sno*Drift preview
Subaru Rally Team USA (SRT USA) returns to the 2011 Rally America National Championship today at the season opener Sno*Drift Rally in northern Michigan. The two-car team has undergone some changes in the off-season including the signing of multi-time British and American Rally Champion David Higgins to replace Travis Pastrana while BMX ace Dave Mirra returns to the team but with a new co-driver in Marshall Clarke, who has extensive top level international rally experience. Higgins and Mirra will each pilot 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI rally cars prepared by Vermont SportsCar at all six rounds of the 2011 Rally America National Championship. The team's spirits were buoyed by a very successful pre-event test earlier in the week in Michigan.
01/27
Motorsport.com: SCC: Subaru Road Racing Team Daytona preview
Subaru Road Racing Team (SRRT) drivers Andrew Aquilante and Bret Spaude are looking forward to the opening of the 2011 GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series. The first major professional auto race of the season will take the green flag at 1:30PM ET on Friday, Jan. 28 at Daytona International Speedway. The SRRT drivers will be one of 31 teams entered in the Grand Sports class race for the 2 1/2-hour race on the newly-reconstructed 3.56-mile combination oval and infield road course at Daytona Beach, Fla. Racing a Grand Sports class 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI race-prepared and tuned by Phoenix Performance of Phoenixville, Pa., co-drivers Andrew Aquilante of Chester Springs, Pa., and Bret Spaude, of Bushnell, Fla., recently spent a weekend at Daytona, getting the feel of their newly-rebuilt Subaru, and becoming accustomed to the new racing surface on the oval portion of the world-famous race track.
Sporting News: Pastrana among entries in Toyota All-Star Showdown
Travis Pastrana is joining the ranks of Ricky Carmichael and Brian Deegan, motocross riders who have made the transition into NASCAR. Pastrana will make his NASCAR debut in the Toyota All-Star Showdown at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale this weekend. He will be one of at least 45 drivers trying to qualify for the race. Race winners from last year's NASCAR K&N East and West Pro Series events plus the series champions from all of NASCAR's developmental series in 2010 have automatic starting spots in the Showdown.
01/23
Timaru Herald (NZ):New livery to reflect New Zealand
Geraldine's rising star of rally driving, Hayden Paddon, is set to take on the world's best again in the 2011 Production World Rally Championship – but with a different manufacturer. The twice-New Zealand champion will switch to a Subaru, ending a five-year relationship with Mitsubishi. The announcement was made before a fundraising dinner attended by more than 100 supporters and hosted by motorsport personality Clint Brown in Timaru on Saturday night.
01/22
Stuff (NZ): Possum driving Paddon in assault on the WRC
Memories of fallen hero Possum Bourne are spurring on rally race Hayden Paddon as he prepares for an assault on the world championship with his New Zealand team. Last year the Geraldine driver finished third in the world Production championship, driving a Mitsubishi with backing from the Pirelli Star Driver programme. This year Paddon, 23, aims to win the Production crown with his own team - and driving a Subaru, after running Mitsubishis all through his career.
ESPN: Another Pastrana circus
Travis Pastrana has pulled off his share of absurd tricks over the course of his X Games career, piling up 17 medals and countless iconic moments. His plan for X Games 16, however, is likely the most audacious.
Fox Sports: Pastrana to begin NASCAR career in Indy
“That is going to be a phenomenal weekend,” Pastrana said. “We’re going big that weekend. Our vision for this team is to expose NASCAR and action sports to each other’s world, and this is a perfect way to accomplish that. We have a lot of work to do before then, but that weekend has already been marked on my calendar.”
01/20
RallyCar: Subaru of America, Inc. Contingency Program Returns for RallyCar 2011 Season
RallyCar, the sanctioning body for the 2011 Rally America National Championship is proud to announce Subaru of America, Inc.’s continuing contingency award support program for the upcoming season. The Subaru Rally Support Program, which was created in 2005, continues to be the most lucrative contingency program in North American rallying, with over $20,000 available per event for eligible Subaru drivers to earn.
ABC News Video: Peeling Out at 100 MPH with Ken Block
ABC News' Brian Rooney rides along with extreme rally racer, Ken Block.
Guardian (UK): In pictures - the 2011 Dakar Rally
The best images from the 32nd Dakar Rally which, contrary to its name, is being staged in South America for the third year running. This year's rally is a 5,976-mile off-road marathon stretching across Argentina and Chile
Gaylord Herald Times: 2011 Sno*Drift Rally ready to roll Jan. 28-29
It’s time again for the Sno*Drift Rally that brings thousands of race car fans to Northern Michigan. Sno*Drift is the only Rally America National Championship race that takes place on icy, snow-covered back roads.
01/17
RallyCar: Sno*Drift Kicks Off 2011 Rally America National Championship
The new Rally America National Championship season will launch into the freezing winter of Northern Michigan at the end of the month. The Sno*Drift Rally January 28-29th will slide amongst the trees and frozen roads in Atlanta and Lewiston, Michigan! The images are post card beautiful. The stories are best-seller dramatic.
Yahoo! Sport UK & Ireland: Rallying-Dakar rally could cover more of South America in 2012
The Dakar Rally, held in Argentina and Chile for the third time although with less spectators than in the previous two years, could expand into Brazil, Paraguay and Peru in 2012. The world famous race, moved from west Africa to South America over security concerns, was won by Qatar's Nasser al-Attiyah on Saturday. The race ended officially in Buenos Aires on Sunday. French race director Etienne Lavigne hinted the race could be opened to more countries in South America. "Every year we try to build on a new idea. We're thinking it could be good to open the race to other countries while including Chile and Argentina," Lavigne said after being asked if next year's race might end in Lima instead of Buenos Aires.
01/15
Time Magazine: Dakar 2011: The World's Most Dangerous Race
The prevailing image of Chile's Atacama Desert is desolate — the mountainous moonscape where 33 miners were trapped underground for 70 days last year until their triumphant rescue. But the driest place on earth has another side. A miraculous sea of flowers blooms there every few years when rain does fall. And this month, for the third straight year, the 16-day Dakar Rally, arguably the world's most prestigious, grueling and dangerous marathon off-road race, or "raid," is winding much of its way through the Atacama, turning it into a deafening, carnivalesque roar of hundreds of cars, trucks, motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles. "Seeing [this] up close is the maximum emotion," says Gines Pulgar, who drove 3,000 km (1,864 mls) from southern Chile this week to follow the endurance epic, which ends on Sunday in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Motorsport.com: Sainz fastest, but Al-Attiyah closes in on win
The battle raged for 11 days with Nasser Al-Attiyah doggedly hanging on to his vastly more experienced team mate, two time WRC champion Carlos Sainz -- something just had to give -- and in the form of Sainz's front suspension, it did... ironically it was being unsighted by Al-Attiyah's dust is what caused him to hit the hole which tore off his wheel.
01/14
MarketingMag: Subaru shows the many sides of rally racing Subaru is giving auto enthusiasts a comprehensive look at its 2011 WRX STI rally car with online videos shot during a stage of the 2010 Rally of the Tall Pines in Bancroft, Ont. Granted unfettered access to the WRX driven by championship rally driver Pat Richard, Subaru’s agency DDB Canada mounted four high-definition cameras on the vehicle: a bumper cam, dash cam, clutch cam and side cam.
Autoguide: 2011 Tokyo Auto Salon: Subaru Legacy Super GT Race Car is 10/10ths of Awesome Often teams will run mismatched engines and bodies, simply using a certain shell for better brand marketing. That being said, Subaru‘s Legacy racer isn’t quite the stretch that it at first seems. On display in the Subaru booth at the 2011 Tokyo Auto Salon, this ’4-door’ might not share much in the way of a chassis with the current Legacy, but it is powered by a typically-Subaru horizontally-opposed boxer engine. But really, when a car looks this amazing, does anyone really care about authenticity?
Boston Globe: The Big Picture: Dakar 2011 The 2011 edition of the Dakar Rally, being held in South America for the third year, is nearly complete, with competitors heading toward the finish line in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Sunday, January 16th. This is the 32nd running of the rally, and over 400 Teams are competing in the race with 200 motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles, 140 cars, and 67 trucks. In the end, racers will have traveled 9,500 km (5,900 mi) in 13 stages across spectacular and varied terrain in both Argentina and Chile. Collected here are a handful of images from this year's race as it nears its end this weekend
Autosport (UK): Prodrive: Mini will be 'sensational'
Prodrive boss David Richards thinks his company's 'no compromise' approach with the Mini it has produced for this year's World Rally Championship will prove extremely successful. After losing the Subaru works team deal following the Japanese company's pull-out at the end of 2008, Prodrive chose to first design what Richards described as a "generic [WRC] car" and then find a suitable manufacturer with a product that fitted it, rather than seeking a new partner and then adapting one of their road car designs to WRC rules.
01/12
Autosport (UK): ESPN lands WRC broadcast deal
ESPN will screen this year's World Rally Championship in what the sport's commercial boss Simon Long has described as a 'pioneering' agreement. It had been hoped the WRC would return to terrestrial television in the UK in 2011 - with a deal with the Five station said to have come close to delivering that - but the sport remains on satellite, albeit with more coverage than ever.
01/11
Rally Sweden: Kimi and Petter in Rally Sweden Among the PWRC entrants you will find Alexander Villanueva from Spain, Jukka Ketomäki from Finland, in Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X and Martin Semerad from Check Republik, in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX. The fast Nordic drivers Swede Patrik Flodin and Norwegian Anders Grøndal are driving Subaru Imprezas. Patrik Flodin was last year´s PWRC winner and he must accept being the favorite in PWRC even this year.
01/10
Autosport (UK): Solberg gets deal in time for Sweden
Solberg has been battling to raise the cash for this season throughout the winter. He was unavailable for comment as he was finishing his fourth and final day of testing with the Peugeot Sport team - ahead of his Super 2000 debut on next week's Monte Carlo Rally.
IRC: IRC Rallye Monte-Carlo preview (part 1 of 2)
Rallye Monte-Carlo has defined not only the history of rallying, but also the history of motorsport as a whole. The very word ‘rally’ derives from what used to happen in Monte-Carlo: competitors would set off from all four corners of Europe and ‘rally’, in other words, meet, in Monaco to celebrate the end of a unique event.
This year is particularly significant, as the very first Rallye Monte-Carlo was held in 1911, making 2011 the centenary of the event. For the third consecutive year this epic challenge marks the opening round of the IRC: the jewel in the crown of the series calendar.
IRC: IRC Rallye Monte-Carlo preview (part 2 of 2)
01/09
Import Tuner: From Formula D To X Games Rally - Tech-Knowledge At the age of 17, Stephan Verdier began his motorsports career go-kart racing in his birth country of France, where he successfully finished Eighth in the nation. After moving to the U.S. in 1993, Verdier entered a Bridgestone driver search that staged him against 1,200 competing applicants, which he won outright and was awarded a contract to campaign a full season in the Canadian Formula F2000 series. His love of road racing spurred an interest in rally, and by 1992 he was piloting an '02 Subaru WRX in the PGT class of the SCCA Western State Rally Championships, leading his team to becoming the first to ever claim an overall event win, on their way to taking home the championship. Verdier's passion morphed once again in 2006, when he entered Formula Drift ranks, competing in both sanctioned rally and drifting competitions from behind the wheels of different cars. But in the summer of 2010 another challenge arose: compete in rally and drift, only this time, from behind the wheel of the same car.
01/05
Sabah Times (MY): Ex-World champ McRae to lead M’sian charge
Proton R3’s campaign in the IRC will be spearheaded by former Subaru Rally Team driver, Chris Atkinson of Australia and Proton’s newly-signed Per-Gunnar Anderson of Sweden, a double FIA Junior World Rally champion. Scotland’s Alister McRae, who was the former Mitsubishi Rally Team driver, will lead the team’s charge in APRC.
01/02
Autosport (UK): Raikkonen: WRC made me better driver
Kimi Raikkonen says his season in the World Rally Championship has made him a better driver. The former Formula 1 world champion had only competed on one WRC round prior to the start of this year and he says his rookie season with the Citroen Junior Rally Team has taught him a huge amount.
