Subaru Corporation is pleased to announce that its motorsports subsidiary, Subaru Tecnica International (STI) *1, took the SP3T class*2 win in the 2018 Nürburgring 24-Hour Race held in Germany from May 11 to 13, with the “Subaru WRX STI NBR Challenge 2018”, a racing car developed based on a WRX STI mass-production model.
Although the team*3 started the final from the pole position earned in qualifying, they experienced mechanical trouble in the early stage of the race and trailed competitions. However, the team of mechanics including 6 mechanics chosen from Subaru dealers in Japan addressed and solved the problem promptly and the car returned to the race. Since then, the four drivers, Carlo van Dam (Netherlands), Tim Schrick (Germany), Hideki Yamauchi (Japan) and Takuto Iguchi (Japan), closed the gap with the lead and regained the top position around 10th hour from the start of the race. The weather condition turned challenging, but the WRX STI with Symmetrical AWD (All-Wheel Drive) was going strong and passing upper class competitors.
The car had to return to the pit area for engine trouble just an hour before the finish, but it returned to the course with strong team work and finished the race with a class win in SP3T class and took 62nd overall. This marks the 5th win in the SP3T class for Subaru/STI team and they got their revenge on last year’s loss.
The victory is a testament that the Subaru WRX STI is capable of fully exerting its AWD sports performance on circuits such as the Nürburgring, also known as the “Green Hell”, which is one of the most challenging and dangerous tracks in the world that is open to the public.
Through its motorsports activities, Subaru and STI continues to pursue engineering excellence to assure “Enjoyment and Peace of Mind” to customers worldwide.
*1: Subaru Tecnica International Inc. (STI): President Yoshio Hirakawa; Located in Mitaka, Tokyo,
the company manages motorsport activities of Subaru.
*2: A class for turbo-charged cars with an engine of 2.0 liters or less
*3: Led by General Team Manager Hideharu Tatsumi
