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Subaru returns to rallying
07 December 2009
Subaru has registered for next season's Intercontinental Rally Challenge.
However, the move is not quite a return to top-flight rallying for Subaru, as it will not enter a factory team in the championship.
Instead, its move means that privateer drivers who compete in Subarus will be eligible for scoring manufacturer points in the championship.
Subaru becomes the eighth registered manufacturer in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge next year, alongside Fiat, Honda, Mitsubishi, Peugeot, Proton, Skoda and Volkswagen.
Subaru's motorsport director Shigeo Sugaya commented, "We are very happy to join the IRC, a series that we have been watching closely since its creation three years ago.
"The IRC provides an ideal arena to develop our customer competition activities. With approximately 1000 Subaru cars rallying around the world, this is a great opportunity for our customers."
A Subaru Impreza won the very first round of the IRC, the 2007 Safari Rally, with WRC driver Conrad Rautenbach at the wheel.
Although Super 2000 machinery dominated this year's IRC, with Peugeot's Kris Meeke taking the title, turbocharged Group N machines will be allowed a larger turbo restrictor next season in a bid to improve their chances of success.
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