Subaru may have slashed their motorsport budget by pulling out of the WRC, but the lads in the motorsport division have had a bit of a collection and managed to find enough cash to race an Impreza STI at this years Nurburgring 24-hour endurance race.
The specially-prepared Impreza WRX STI will race in the SP3T class for cars with 2.0-litre turbocharged engines and will be driven by Japanese drivers Kazuo Shimizu, Toshihiro Yoshida, Naoki Hattori and Koji Matsuda.
You can follow the progress of the team on a special micro-site that includes additional pictures, videos and interviews. They’ll be showing live timing and results when the race gets underway in May.
The offical press release is as follows:
This May, SUBARU Tecnica International (STI) heads to the Nurburgring circuit for the “37th ADAC Zurich 24 Hour Race” (24 Hours of the Nurburgring) with an originally tuned version of the Impreza WRX STI aiming for a class victory.
The ADAC Zurich 24-hour race takes place at the course of 25.378km in total, and is the largest endurance event in the world, with more than 200 cars participating, familiarized by European manufacturers who enter every year. STI particularly and practically uses 20.832kms “Nordschleife” (also called “Old Course”), known as intensively severe course, as a proofing ground for STI developed vehicles. STI’s objective to participate this event is to collect data and verify technical know-how, and also to learn out of this race for future STI vehicle development. STI’s vehicle development is focused on further enhancing the unique ride quality which can be characterized by the theme, “Strength and nimbleness”.
The participating car is Impreza WRX STI built and tuned exclusively by STI, adopting “Flexible Tower Bar”, along with a variety of original chassis and body stiffener and components. Modifications also include weight-reduction and safety equipment installation.
The car will participate in the SP3T class (for turbo-equipped machines with an engine displacement of 2.0litter). STI will conduct the team management for this race, supervised by Hideharu Tatsumi (STI’s General Manager of Vehicle Experiment Division), while racing the car are four highly experienced professional Japanese drivers.
Entrant name : SUBARU TECNICA INTERNATIONAL(STI)
Participating car : SUBARU Impreza WRX STI(GRB type)
Horizontally opposed 4-cylinder EJ20
2.0litter DOHC turbo / SYMMETRICAL AWD
Suspension : Front – strut, rear – double wishbone
Vehicle manufacturer : STI
Team director : Hideharu Tatsumi
(STI General Manager of Vehicle Experiment Division)
Drivers : Kazuo Shimizu, Toshihiro Yoshida
Naoki Hattori, Koji Matsuda
STI NBR CHALLENGE web
www.subaru-sti.co.jp/e/nbr24h2009/