While Subaru's most successful rally days may be behind it, that isn't to say it's out of the sport entirely. The WRX STI
Isle of Man record car
is probably the first example most will think of in recent times over here, but the American rally scene remains buoyant.
For 2017 Rally America will become the American Rally Association (ARA) National Championship, held across six rounds in North America and Canada. Subaru will compete with a new 2017 WRX STI and two drivers: Travis Pastrana, who returned to Subaru's American rally team in 2014, and David Higgins.
Higgins is a name well known to Subaru and PH; his brother Mark drove the IoM car and David is still involved with the Forest Experience where our Dafydd learned about gravel rallying. And, well, it seems worth celebrating that Subaru's US rally team relies on the services of a guy from the Isle of Man who now lives in Wales. An eight-time Rally America champion, no less.
Of the new season, Higgins said: "It's always great to do new events and I love snow events, it will also be fun to compete against the Canadian drivers and my old sparring partner Antoine L'Estage" [the first event is in Maniwaki, Quebec]. And what about the threat posed by his teammate, Travis Pastrana? "He's a fierce competitor and I'm sure he will be trying very hard to get ahead of us, but we have no plans on easing up on anyone in 2017!"
Having competed a lot in World Rallycross recently, Pastrana will compete in every event of the 2017 ARA National Championship. "I'm running the full championship in 2017 and trying my hardest to dethrone Higgins", he said. And with the best will in world Travis, we're hoping you don't!
Ahead of the season beginning, Subaru has launched a rally app for Apple and Android to keep track of the team's progress. For a more old fashioned approach, the calendar of events is available here. Best of luck to David (and some to Travis as well)!
