The new Impreza will be Subaru’s last chance

David Richards, recently appointed technical director of the Subaru World Rally team and director of Prodrive, believes that his team cannot afford any mistakes in this new 2008 season.

Arriving to turn around a team that has been struggling for more than two years, a period without any success in WRC, Richards sees the new Impreza as their last chance to shine again in WRC rallying.

« I think we can no longer hide our situation, » commented the Briton. « Things must change, therefore! »

« Subaru is a team that regularly won half a dozen rallies a year. It also won half a dozen world championships… and yet, for the past two years, no victory has been achieved. »

Richards also admitted that the delay in developing the new Subaru Impreza had hindered the team’s performance improvement in 2007. For this upcoming season, which starts on January 26th in Monte-Carlo, the new car should be a real step forward for the brand and finally allow it to compete with the competition.

« It’s a bit tight at the moment with the current ‘blue’. It has been running for more than 5 years already, and we would never have thought it would last this long. »

In a few months, the new car will be approved, and then we will have no excuse for not making the podium!

Markko Martin, the brand’s new test driver, was also very valuable in the development of this new WRC.

« So far, the tests are going very well. Markko is performing very well and we are happy with the results. The car will be unveiled in a few months and active in rallies around mid-season. »