First came news earlier this week of Suzuki pulling out of the World Rally Championship (WRC), and now comes even worst news from the rally world. Subaru, the company that built its name and reputation on the rally circuit, has announced todya that they are officially pulling their factory team out of the WRC, effective immediately.

Like many companies, Subaru points to the global economic crisis as to why they are pulling out of the sport that made Subaru the company they are today. Subaru’s famed “asymmetrical all wheel drive” system was perfectly suited for the low grip demands of a rally race. When most people think of Subaru’s racing, they think of a blue rally car flying through the air.

As a consequence of this decision Prodrive, a British racing consultancy firm that has operated the Subaru WRC team for over 20 years, is out of a partner for next season. I doubt they will have a hard time finding a manufacture to work with. Prodrive has been, and still is, one of the most respected racing teams in the business.

Still, for a rally fan like myself, the thought of not watching a blue and yellow Subaru racing against the Mitsubishi Evo’s and Citroen’s is a sad one. I’ve always liked Subaru. They have always made a good car, and ask any mechanic in the know and he’ll tell you that these cars are more reliable than Honda’s.

Subaru deserve to be able to race in the sport they helped build. Hopefully the situation for the company will change so that they can return to the world they left behind, so they can return to the world of rally racing.

Above: Subaru + Rally Racing = Airtime!!!!    It’s a shame, they need to come back….. 

Source: Autoblog

Photo: Subaru Tecnica International (STI)