Subaru pulls out of World Rally Championship

Damn, now that is a huge blow to WRC.

Bad news for my hometown and a lot of my mates; Prodrive are based there. When I was a kid they were just starting up and kept their car shells in the warehouse where I worked. I used to eat my sandwiches in world class rally cars!

The STI (Subaru Technica International) Brand has helped Subaru enormously over the years, transforming them from medium-sized, technically curious Japanese brand into a respected world-beater, and the STI versions of the Impreza WRX and Forester have both been lauded.

This will hurt them more than Honda...

It's a real kick in the teeth for Solberg, who has been with them for years and always goes out of his way to appeal to Subaru fans when he comes to Japan.

The people who organise gambling on racing events must be gnashing their teeth lately.

There is gambling, I assume.

FIA got what they've wanted all these years. Instead of a World Rally Championship, it's a EuroCar Rally Championship!

Next year I hear they're going to require all entrants run on diesel.

I think its a good move, and I also think the other automakers need to pull out of all other sponsored racing. They are all getting goverment money, and spending more then that on racing. I hate to see them all pull out(I love all types of racing), but it is the financial right thing to do.

wow.. I just lost a chunk of respect for the Japanese car makers! Looks like they will always be machines. You will never get the passion that runs thru the veins of a ferrari, porsche or even ford! Looks like they were racing all these years to market themselves and not because they "wanted" to race!!

Oh, rally?

I don't think the people working on the machines or at the tracks thought about it as 'marketing'.

It's the first place to trim the fat.

What they did not mention are the new rules for 2010. Subaru’s decision may have been influenced by the new set of WRC technical regulations, announced this week and set to take effect in 2010. They specify that next year’s WRC cars will be based on current Super 2000 specifications, meaning that Subaru would have had to develop an all-new road car: clearly a prohibitive cost. Probably the same for Suzuki.

However, they will still be racing at junior levels, and parts will still be available. Privateer Scoobies will still be out there....

Dave Richard's ProDrive Team, now with time on its hands, could also be a candidate to take over the Honda F1 team.

Makes me wonder if the WRX is going to be a priority at Subaru for much longer.

Powers of the almighty dollar to any monies is being eyed wisely by car makers to cut back on the maze of money they put into sports.

No one knows exactly what can be invested in sports or any spending so obviously Subaru is making a smart move according to my books.

Sad! Gawd, I miss my Impreza Rex! My K-car just doesn't have the same zing. Let's all take a minute to remember the late great Possum Borne.

What they did not mention are the new rules for 2010.

Wanderlast is right, money was not the only reason for them to pull out. Another point worth mentioning is that Prodrive hasn't been able to deliver any satisfying results for almost 4 years

Ford is still planning to participate next season at the same time they are asking for bailout funds?

Ford is not asking for the bailout funds. They may need them in the future as a line of credit. Ford can't allow the other two automakers to fail because they rely on many of the same parts suppliers.