EVEN THOUGH THIS ISSUE IS PUBLISHED IN THE MIDDLE OF SUMMER, BOTH SUBARU MOTORSPORTS TEAMS, SUBARU RALLY TEAM USA (FIELDED BY VERMONT SPORTSCAR) AND SUBARU ROAD RACING TEAM (FIELDED BY PHOENIX PERFORMANCE) ARE PAST THE MID-POINTS IN THEIR RESPECTIVE SEASONS. PLUS, BOTH HAVE EXPERIENCED CHALLENGES.
Photo: Lars Gange | rally.subaru.com
Photo: Lars Gange | rally.subaru.com
With only one round of six in stage rally left to contend as we went to press, David Higgins was 1st in the drivers’ championship standings, and Dave Mirra was 4th. Through Round 5, both Higgins/Craig Drew in SRT USA #75 WRX STI and Mirra/Marshall Clarke in SRT USA #40 WRX STI had stood on the podium multiple times.
For individual event coverage and more about SRT USA, go to www.subaru.com/rally and www.rally-america.com. Sign up for RallyCar’s newsletter to keep in touch with rallies and rallycrosses. In addition, the Editor’s Track Journal will help you to keep up with the team.
Dave Mirra also competed in the U.S. Rallycross Championship, which combines standings from three events in the inaugural Global RallyCross Championship (GRC) with three events in The Off-Road Championship (TORC). In the GRC AWD RallyCross races, Mirra placed 4th and 6th in Rounds 1 and 2. David Higgins finished 4th in Round 3. Mirra placed 5th in AWD SuperRally in Round 2.
Here is the schedule for the last three rounds – all in the Midwest:
- August 13-14 – Bark River International Raceway, Bark River, Michigan
- September 4-5 – Crandon International Off-Road Raceway, Crandon, Wisconsin
- September 15 – Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, Illinois
And don’t forget X Games, which promises a different approach to its Rally Car Racing and RallyCross events on July 30 and 31, 2011.
SRT USA keeps busy preparing for the different types of racing. That preparation may seem simple, but each type of racing requires radically different vehicles. The events may look the same, but vehicle weight, horsepower, suspension configurations, interior equipment, and so forth differ greatly.