Videos! Subaru takes on the Isle of Man record and Dave Higgins gets 2nd at Global Rally Cross

I’m gonna call this Video Friday! Now these videos have been making their way around the net so I won’t bore you too much with the details. Sit back and enjoy the videos (and choas).

Advertisement

Video Highlights of Dave Mirra and the Subaru Rally Team at GRC!

Dave Mirra had an interesting weekend. Seemingly driving his 2011 Subaru STi like a pissed off teenager and being as aggressive as he could. It was amazing to see how hard he was driving and how he was able to really battle it out with the others. Subaru has released this video of his performance and you can see how close some of these battles really were.

Photo by Kyle Lewis

From Global Rally Cross Round 2: Mirra won’t quit… litterally

We saw some epic stuff from Global Rally Cross Round 2 in Seattle. With the rain, new ‘track’, and guys getting aggressive so they can make it to the Xgames finale we saw some intense competition.

Photo by Kyle Lewis

So Check out this video that we found on Youtube with Dave Mirra with his destroyed rear end doing what he can to finish the heat! Enjoy!

Press Release: Subaru introduces the newest Subaru Rally Team USA driver, David Higgins

Looks like Subaru Rally Team USA has found their Travis Pastrana replacement, David Higgins. Who is David Higgins? He is an accomplished European Rally Racer with multiple championships under his belt. Check out the Press Release for more information:

Accomplished Rally Driver David Higgins Joins Subaru Rally Team USA

CHERRY HILL, N.J., Dec. 8, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — Subaru of America, Inc. announced today that it would be returning to the Rally America National Championship in the Open class with a 2-car program in 2011.  Led by current Subaru Rally Team USA (SRT USA) driver Dave Mirra and joined by British seasoned rally driver David Higgins; each driver will be piloting a Subaru Impreza WRX STI prepared and fielded by technical partner Vermont SportsCar.

Higgins brings extensive rallying experience to SRT USA, most recently competing in the Chinese Rally Championship having gone on to help his team secure championship titles in 2004, 2007 and 2009.  No stranger to the American rally circuit, Higgins claimed consecutive SCCA ProRally titles in 2002 and 2003 before returning to the UK and winning the 2004 British Rally National Championship.  Notably, the 38 year-old driver has also won the Group N British Rally National title in 1997, 1999, and 2002.   As a testament of his passion for the sport, Higgins and his family also operate a UK-based training facility, The Forest Experience Rally School.

“The first impression of any car is always very important and I felt at home in the 2011 Subaru STI from the very first mile,” said Higgins.  “Everyone thinks of Subaru when you talk about rally and to be racing for SRT USA is a great honor; I won my first USA SCCA ProRally Championship in 2002 with an STI.  I cannot wait for the 2011 season, Rally America has a great program, and it is going to be incredibly fun and competitive.”

Mirra is back and proving that he is a force to be reckoned with; earning rookie of the year honors in 2008 from Rally America, he is poised to have a breakout season with SRT USA.  This year he achieved two podium finishes in three rounds of the inaugural RallyCar Rallycross series as well as a podium finish in the Rally America Olympus rally.  Widely known as a pioneer in BMX Freestyle and the winningest X Games athlete in history, Mirra now has his sights on being successful rally competitor with Subaru.

As part of SRT USA’s acclimatization program last week, Mirra joined new teammate Higgins for his first shakedown run of the 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI rally car at the team’s proving grounds in upstate New York.  Testing footage can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EacAGUj43LU<span> </span>

Subaru of America has claimed titles as well, sales gains in 2010 resulted in breaking their overall sales record in November and follow successive sales growth in 2008 and 2009 which were driven by increases across the board with strong sales for Outback, Forester, and Legacy Sedan and Impreza. Sales for the brand have grown by close to 50% in just over three years and company officials expect full-year sales for 2010 to exceed 250,000 units.  Also, at the 2010 LA auto show Subaru was rated the 2011 Best Retail Brand by Kelley Blue Book’s kbb.com and bestowed with four residual value awards from ALG.  On and off the track Subaru is on the path to success.

About Subaru Rally Team USA

Subaru Rally Team USA is proudly supported by Subaru of America, Inc., Subaru Tecnica International (STI), Subaru Performance Tuning (SPT), DC Shoes, BFGoodrich Tires, RECARO, Vision X, Alpinestars, Motul, Exedy, VP Fuels and Vermont SportsCar. For more information on Subaru Rally Team USA, as well as exclusive photo and video galleries visit subaru.com/rally or follow the team at Twitter.com/SRTUSA.

About Subaru of America, Inc.

Subaru of America, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. of Japan. Headquartered in Cherry Hill, N.J., the company markets and distributes Subaru Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive vehicles, parts and accessories through a network of more than 600 dealers across the United States.  All Subaru products are manufactured in zero-landfill production plants and Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. is the only U.S. automobile production plant to be designated a backyard wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. For additional information visit www.subaru.com.

 

 

Ahh the holidays… time to save on some Subaru Gear!

Apparently Subaru is having a Holiday sale on all their Rally Team gear (Possibly because they are now one man down from their team?).

Anyways to check out the deals from Subaru, visit HERE!

Breaking NEWS: Subaru says goodbye to Travis Pastrana for 2011

Our friends on Dirty Impreza tipped us off to this news about Travis Pastrana leaving Subaru Rally team. This leaves Dave Mirra as their lead driver! How will the effect the team?

Subaru of America, Inc. today bid farewell to Travis Pastrana as the company’s lead driver.  Travis began his relationship Subaru in 2004 from the world of supercross and freestyle motorcross and officially joined Subaru Rally Team USA (SRT USA) in 2006 having run abbreviated development seasons with Subaru in 2004-2005.  During his career as an SRT USA driver, Travis piloted his Subaru Impreza WRX STI to 150+ stage wins, 40 podiums, and 22 event victories en route to earning four consecutive Rally America National Championship titles (2006-2009) and becoming the youngest-ever U.S. Rally champion in history.  Within the ESPN X Games Rally Car Racing format, Travis went on to win two gold, one silver and one bronze medal with Subaru Rally Team USA.

Tim Mahoney, CMO of Subaru of America said, “Travis brought Rally to a whole new audience through the rally championship and of course through his spectacular appearances at X Games. We wholeheartedly thank him for his outstanding performances with Subaru Rally Team USA and wish him well in his future endeavors.”

We here at Subie-Life.com aren’t quite sure what to think about this news but what we are sure of, is that Subaru always have some tricks up their sleeves and this won’t spell the end of the team! Good luck Travis!

Sour grapes or the truth? Frank Sprongl chimes in on Travis Pastrana’s Mt. Washington Record

After Frank Sprongl’s 20 year record was broken by Travis Pastrana during his recent Mt. Washington hill climb record breaking lap, Mr. Sprongl had some choice words about the broken record according to Autoblog.

Frank Sprongl would like to chat with Travis Pastrana. You see, we recently reported that Mr. Pastrana established a new record for driving up the Mt. Washington Auto Road. Travis’ time of six minutes and 20.47 seconds in a rally-prepped Subaru WRX STI bested the previous time laid down by Sprongl. In 1998, Frank Sprongl and his 1983 Audi Quattro S2 attacked the Auto Road and set an official record time of six minutes and 41.99 seconds. Technology has advanced quite a bit in the 27 years since Sprongl’s Audi Quattro was new, as well as the 12 years since he set the record.

“It’s unofficial to begin with… it’s basically just a test day and he did it with a co-driver and pace notes,” states Sprongl. He adds, “The course has 76 turns and I ran it with no co-driver or notes, I memorized every turn.” He further notes that the Auto Road had longer gravel sections when he made his official run. It has since received more paving. In Frank Sprongl’s opinion, this run is simply Red Bull and Travis performing a stunt for advertising. He does say that he believes Travis put in an amazing effort and it was certainly an excellent run… but was it official or not?

Regardless of what Travis did (and we at Autoblog think it was an excellent run), Frank Sprongl’s run is just as if not more remarkable. He took on a challenging road in a 15-year-old car – and he did it very quickly. Pushing the gas pedal of his 500+ horsepower Audi Quattro S2 is akin to a “raw stick of dynamite going off; it’s brute power combined with limited and aged technology.” Tackling the Mt. Washington Auto Road in a rally-spec 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI is one thing, but doing so in that Audi is another. “That road is very unforgiving and it deserves a lot of respect… if you’re an idiot out there, you can die,” says Sprongl, “Above the tree line, it’s a long way down.”

After chatting with Mr. Sprongl, he wanted to reiterate that he felt Travis Pastrana had an excellent run up the Auto Road. We pressed him to see if he thought he could go faster in that Subaru. Without missing a beat, he replied that he could – after all, he has over 10 years of mountain road racing experience and can tame a car that would make Pastrana’s Subie feel like a Lexus by comparison.

Frank Sprongl is a driving legend in his native Canada. He has won the Canadian Rally Championship, Canada’s longest running motorsports series, six times. Sprongl has achieved Grand Master status in the Canadian Association of Rally Sport – a title bestowed upon only 12 other drivers. He continues to race in events around Canada, and was recently seen running his beautiful Audi Quattro in the Targa Newfoundland.

As for the record? Well, Frank Sprongl is 100-percent right. Travis Pastrana’s six minute and 20.47 time is not an official run, but merely a timed test session performed for the Red Bull Speed Chasers project in conjunction with Vermont SportsCar. It is an excellent display of driving that will also serve as a great promotional tool for the 2011 Climb to the Clouds on Mt. Washington, the first time the race will have been run in 10 years. We hope Travis returns to try and beat that time officially.

We also hope Frank Sprongl is there to defend his place in the record books. He can still lay claim to having the fastest official time up the Mt. Washington Auto Road, and we would love to see these two square off.

I’m glad that Mr.Sprongl is a bit modest however, records change and you can’t just put an asterisk on records because courses change. Regardless, we congratulate Travis Pastrana’s efforts. Subaru for the win.

Pictures from Rally Car in New Jersey during the Exhibition Day

I’ve been doing a lot of snooping around on the interwebs as of late… especially Facebook and found these pretty sweet photos of the Subaru Rally Team in action during the first round of the Rally Car events in New Jersey Motorsports Park… in New Jersey (duh).

Dave and Travis killing it on one of the dirt portions of the track. I love how much dirt is being kicked up!

You can see in this picture of Travis Pastrana how the track surface changes from a tarmac to dirt a the track itself!

Do I need to say anything about this photo? Nope… it’s just plain cool.

Dave Mirra’s 2011 STi down one of the straights. You can see that he was among some tough company in the hot pit lanes in the background including Tanner Foust.

Dave Mirra showing a little bit of understeer… it’s okay, he’ll just flick the car into the next turn!

Here’s Dave Mirra catching some air.

I love this shot! Just perfect.

Dave Mirra smiling for the camera.

Here’s Travis Pastrana with his pretty sweet shades.

The Subaru paddock area where the teams come in after their sessions. They have great crew members there that fixes and maintains the STi’s. From what I remember, they carry enough spare parts that give them the ability to build another car completely if needed. That’s insanity!

I’ll round out the post wit this photo. If you want to check out more photos, make sure you add Subaru of America to your facebook “likes” and they’ll have it on their albums!

Source: Subaru of America

XGames Practice day photos at the venue are pure rad…

It seems like gunshot like blasts coming from the USC area in Downtown LA wasn’t the usual culprit but in actuality, it was the anti-lag systems that were emitted from the rally cars practicing in the unconventional rally course set up at XGames 16.

Our sources told us that this course was different from what we and the TV Audience saw on Saturday. Reason being is that the incline heading out of the stadium and into the stadium was too steep causing almost all the drivers to lose their front or rear bumpers.

As our Subie-Life.com friend, Stephan Verdier demonstrated to us in this picture in his new competition livery. He also lost a few parts in the first round of the Super Rally which made for an interesting obstacle.

Here’s Dave Mirra in his new 2011 Subaru STi Rally car.

There were a handful of privateers in attendance to compete against the large budget teams. We love seeing these scrappy guys getting the job done on their limited budgets! The White STi damaged their radiator and Subie-Life.com and AQ Motorsports stepped in by letting the team borrow their AQ Motorsports STi Race Car’s radiator! The White STi suffered a hard hit when it rolled over coming back into the stadium during the Rally ending its journey. You can check out the rest of the images HERE.

XGames 16 practice video!

Well, we’re freshly sun burnt from our recent trip to the XGames and we had a blast! Our caravan was a huge success (pictures and full review coming up!) and we saw some epic battles. Unfortunately, Subaru didn’t do as well as we all hoped with a few upsets but never-the-less it was great.

The Subaru crew put everything they can on their 3 factory sponsored vehicles.

The ever vigilant people from Autoblog were nice enough to put up some key photos from the Rally practice that was held last week to allow all the teams to adjust their cars for the stadium / rally cross style battle which is very different from their usual staged events.

Check out this crazy video and the awesome rear suspension shot that they show as well! Check out the rest in their article HERE!

Source Autoblog