Rumormill: Subaru pulling out of WRC tomorrow
Even more bad news (motor)sports fans. According to a report by Finnish sports site MT3.fi, Subaru will follow in the footsteps of Suzuki and pull out of the 2009 World Rally Championship (WRC) season. While Suzuki's declaration was a surprise, Subaru's exit from the world of rallying would be a serious blow to the sport as a whole and its fans in particular. A formal announcement will supposedly follow tomorrow, but we're keeping our fingers crossed that the Finns got this one wrong. Thanks to Eralp for the tip!
[Source: MTV3.fi - Google Translated | Image: Ross Land/Getty]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Brent 7:30PM (12/15/2008)
Bye Bye WRC.
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Ben 9:52PM (12/15/2008)
FIA screwed it up anyway with their announcement to have stock cars. :P
ajmalzx 6:07AM (12/16/2008)
Agreed, I think FIA screw it up when they say they're going for S2000 format. I think 2009 will be the last time we see genuine racing in terms of technological advancement.
Anyway, it's official. Subaru has quit WRC.
Ben 8:22AM (12/16/2008)
@ajmalzx
Actually, the most genuine racing was this past year, 2008.
speedball3 7:36PM (12/15/2008)
I would be really bummed to see that happen... though Subaru hasn't been winning in the last couple years, but still... it would be sad to see.
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hyundaifans.com 7:41PM (12/15/2008)
Gosh i hope this is not true. The WRC without Subaru just does not seem right......
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Mobius_1 9:12PM (12/15/2008)
It's like F1 without McLaren.
cFoo 11:56PM (12/15/2008)
It's more like F1 without Ferrari.
mobby_6kl 7:45AM (12/16/2008)
No, that's more like F1 without Renault. Once relevant, they weren't there at the beginning, and have been underperforming for several seasons.
Seriously, did anyone actually watch WRC this year? Chris Atkinson was a distant 5th, and Subaru hasn't won the manufacturer's championship since 1997. Yeah it's a bit sad, but no big deal.
Sid 7:45PM (12/15/2008)
WOW that sucks. One of the biggest reasons I love the STi is the fact that it's rall-bred.
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Mobius_1 9:13PM (12/15/2008)
Considering the Evo is still doing fine without Mitsu even being in the WRC, the STi should still be a fantastic car in the foreseeable future. Have no fear.
aaron 7:46PM (12/15/2008)
Wasn't WRC in trouble for a long time anyway b/c of the lack of sponsors? It sounds crazy to some of us here in the US because we might think the WRC is so uber that it's only second to F1 in popularity in europe but I swear I read it in foriegn car mags awhile back that they were (at least) starting to struggle.
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zamafir 8:22PM (12/15/2008)
More popular in europe than LeMans? Really?
aaron 10:07PM (12/15/2008)
I just go by what I read. Maybe I'm wrong.
RJLouro 5:58AM (12/16/2008)
I'm from Portugal, and we are a country that absolutely loves motor racing. Back when the rally's were a week long, it was usual for ppl to take vacation and follow the entire rally. The WRC touches a lot of countries, and in every country it goes, it leaves a huge mark. Even today, you go to a little town where a rally would go by and you can listen to old people talking with enthusiasm about some funny stories, they go get pictures they've taken, they'll talk about Markku Alen, Michele Mouton and other drivers. Le Mans is huge, but it doesn't reach the audience of rally, not even close.
And yes, this is very sad news.
Conundrum 7:56PM (12/15/2008)
I do not spend a bunch of time watching and following Rally Car racing but I really enjoy it when I do watch. This announcement along with Suzuki is bad news for the sport. Will it stop here?
Dodge is leaving the NASCAR truck series and didn't GM pull out of Daytona sponshorship in NASCAR too? Will it be long before it is only Ford and Toyota racing NASCAR's "Car Of Tommorrow" around the track?
Maybe the loss of all this corporate sponsored racing will allow more folks to go out on weekends and enjoy some good, fun, and non commercialized dirt track racing or 24 hours of lemons type racing events!
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Snowdog 7:57PM (12/15/2008)
I would assume this has to do with the switch S2000 cars.
With commodity drive trains, this becomes less about the manufacturer. When I heard the above, I was losing interest, but I can see manufacturers losing all interest when it really isn't about manufacturers product anymore.
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Richard 8:05PM (12/15/2008)
Good point!
F1 will be next.
cFoo 11:59PM (12/15/2008)
Racing in the eyes of Mad-Max and the FIA.
IDIOTS.
I hope those morons don't get their fingers on racing in North America. It's sad when NASCAR is looking more interesting than F1.
James Fabin 7:58PM (12/15/2008)
I'm a huge fan of WRC and this will be terrible news if it turns out to be true. Here in the US I've not only been a fan of Hyundai's rally team, but I participated in the sport myself as a novice. I've got a lot of friends who also compete and it's truly the best of motor sports - Real cars, real roads, real fast! It was heartbreaking to see Hyundai's program get terminated by Hyundai Motor America, then to see Mitsubishi's team dealt the same fate (by the same person). Let's hope this is just a rumor!
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