2008 TEAM
RED BULL #199
(2008 SUBARU IMPREZA WRX STI)
Photo: Lars Gange/rally.subaru.com
Travis Pastrana – driver
Photo: Lars Gange/rally.subaru.com
Christian Edstrom – co-driver
Photo: Lars Gange/rally.subaru.com
Derek Ringer – co-driver
MONSTER ENERGY™ #43
(2008 SUBARU IMPREZA WRX STI)
Photo: Lars Gange/rally.subaru.com
Ken Block – driver
Photo: Lars Gange/rally.subaru.com
Alex Gelsomino – co-driver
CAR #111
(SUBARU LEGACY 2.5 GT SPEC.B)
Chuck Hemmingson – driver
Kristian Skavnes – driver
CAR #141
(SUBARU LEGACY 2.5 GT SPEC.B)
Dave Rosenblum – driver
Andrew Aquilante – driver
LINKS
Click
here to see the driver/co-driver profiles that are part of the X Games 13 Rally coverage in Version 4.3 of
Drive Performance.
2008 SUBARU MOTORSPORTS PREVIEW
The Subaru Road Racing Team Legacy 2.5 GT spec.B #111 was co-driven by Chuck Hemmingson and Kristian Skavnes.
THE SUBARU MOTORSPORTS TEAMS ENTER THE 2008 SEASON WITH CONSIDERABLE MOMENTUM FROM 2007. BOTH SUBARU RALLY TEAM USA AND SUBARU ROAD RACING TEAM EXPECT TO EXTEND THEIR RACING SUCCESSES.
In addition to its support of a variety of performance events in which Subaru owners are involved, Subaru of America, Inc. sponsors two race teams – Subaru Rally Team USA (SRT USA) and Subaru Road Racing Team (SRRT). Each Subaru Motorsports team is managed by well-established racing organizations with plenty of experience and success in its type of racing. Vermont SportsCar of Colchester, Vermont, campaigns SRT USA, and ICY Racing of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, fields SRRT.
SRT USA BACKGROUND
Vermont SportsCar is owned by former rally driver/co-driver and car builder Lance Smith. It fields the two SRT USA teams competing in the Rally America National Championship. Vermont SportsCar also manages the Subaru Rally Support Parts Truck vehicle and the Subaru Rally Contingency Programs.
Photo: David Seaver/rally.subaru.com
The Subaru Rally Team USA Impreza WRX STI Red Bull #199 is driven by Travis Pastrana with co-drivers Christian Edstrom and Derek Ringer.
The SRT USA driver/co-driver pairing of Travis Pastrana/Christian Edstrom has won the Rally America National Championship two years in a row – 2006 and 2007. After the Sno*Drift Rally in January 2008, Derek Ringer replaced Edstrom as Pastrana’s co-driver. Ringer, a professional co-driver since 1988, is best known for his success co-driving for World Rally Championship (WRC) legend Colin McRae in the early 1990s. Along with Pastrana and his co-drivers, teammates Ken Block/Alessandro Gelsomino are always contenders at every Rally America National Championship event.
In addition, both teams explored the Production World Rally Championship (PWRC) of the international WRC during 2007. For the 2008 season, they are slated to compete in selected PWRC events. (You can find the PWRC schedule as part of the 2008 WRC schedule in this issue’s “Origins” article.) The team’s 2008 Impreza WRX STI rally cars will debut early in the season.
RESULTS – SRT USA IN THE 2007 RALLY
AMERICA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
| PLACE | DRIVER | MANUFACTURER | POINTS |
| |
| 1 | Travis Pastrana (SRT USA) | Subaru | 130 |
| |
| 2 | Andrew Pinker | Subaru | 118 |
| |
| 3 | Ken Block (SRT USA) | Subaru | 109 |
| |
| 4 | Tanner Foust | Subaru | 92 |
| |
| 5 | Matthew Iorio | Subaru | 46 |
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| 6 (tie) | Paul Choiniere II | Hyundai | 44 |
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| 6 (tie) | Matthew Johnson | Subaru | 44 |
| |
| 8 | Ramana Lagemann | Mitsubishi | 41 |
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| 9 | Kyle Sarasin | Ford | 33 |
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| 10 | Andrew Comrie-Picard | Mitsubishi | 32 |
| |
SRRT BACKGROUND
The Subaru Road Racing Team is campaigned by ICY Racing/Phoenix Performance, which is co-owned by partners Dave Rosenblum and Joe Aquilante. Both men are race drivers with decades of experience between them.
As the factory team effort in 2005, SRRT consisted of three Subaru Impreza WRX STi racers – Dave Rosenblum, Chuck Hemmingson, and Kristian Skavnes – brought together under the ICY/Phoenix umbrella. Hemmingson and Skavnes secured 1st and 2nd places in class at the SCCA Runoffs that year – a feat repeated in 2006.
The 2006 season also saw SRRT test a Subaru Legacy 2.5 GT Wagon in Grand-Am. Three races were enough to prove the Legacy platform competitive, and SRRT entered six of the 2007 Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series ST Class races with Legacy 2.5 GT spec.B sedans. Hemmingson and Skavnes drove #111, and Rosenblum teamed with veteran racer Davy Jones in #141.
For 2008, SRRT expects to campaign in at least seven of the KONI Challenge Series events – Daytona International Speedway, Lime Rock Park, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Watkins Glen International, Iowa Speedway, Thunderbolt Raceway at New Jersey Motorsports Park, and the season finale at Virginia International Raceway. Andrew Aquilante takes over from Davy Jones in the #141.
RESULTS – SRRT FINISHING POSITIONS IN 2007 KONI CHALLENGE SERIES ST CLASS RACES
| TRACK/DATE | #111 | #141 |
| |
| Homestead-Miami Speedway/April 13-15 | 6 | 8 |
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| Laguna Seca/May 17-20 | 11 | 4 |
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| Lime Rock Park/May 25-28 | 1 | 12 |
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| Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course/June 21-24 | 1 | 12 |
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| Miller Motorsports Park/September 12-15 | 10 | 13 |
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| Virginia International Raceway/October 4-5 | 24 (DNF) | 33 (DNF) |
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2008 SUBARU MOTORSPORTS CALENDAR
| Month | Days | SOA Affiliation | Event |
| |
| January | 25-26 | SRT USA/Rally America | Sno*Drift Rally, Atlanta, MI | |
| 25 | SRRT/KONI Challenge | Daytona International Speedway,1 Daytona, FL |
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| February | 22-23 | SRT USA/Rally America | Rally in the 100 Acre Wood, Salem, MO |
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| April | 19-20 | SRT USA/Rally America | Olympus Rally, Olympia, WA |
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| May | 16-18 | SRT USA/Rally America | Oregon Trail Rally, Hillsboro, OR | |
| 26 | SRRT/KONI Challenge | Lime Rock Park,1 Lakeville, CT |
|
| June | 7 | SRT USA/Rally America | Susquehannock Trail Rally, Wellsboro, PA |
| 15 | SRRT/KONI Challenge | Mosport, Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada |
| 22 | SRRT/KONI Challenge | Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course,1 Lexington, OH |
| 27-29 | GT Live West | Miller Motorsports Park, Tooele, UT |
|
| July | 5 | SRRT/KONI Challenge | Watkins Glen International,1 Watkins Glen, NY |
| 11-12 | SRT USA/Rally America | New England Forest Rally, Bethel, ME |
|
| August | 10 | SRRT/KONI Challenge | Iowa Speedway,1 Newton, IA |
| 16 | SRRT/KONI Challenge | Le Circuit du Trois-Rivieres, Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, Canada |
| 22-23 | SRT USA/Rally America | Ojibwe Forests Rally, Bemidji, MN |
| 29-31 | SRRT/KONI Challenge | Thunderbolt Raceway at New Jersey Motorsports Park,1 Millville, NJ |
|
| September | 13 | SRT USA/Rally America | Rally Colorado, Steamboat Springs, CO |
| 21 | SRRT/KONI Challenge | Miller Motorsports Park, Tooele, UT |
|
| October | 3-5 | SRRT/KONI Challenge GT LIVE East | Virginia International Raceway,1 Alton, VA |
| 17-18 | SRT USA/Rally America | Lake Superior Rally, Houghton, MI |
|
1 KONI Challenge race in which SRRT is most likely to compete if the team doesn’t run the entire season.
SRT USA = Subaru Rally Team USA
SRRT = Subaru Road Racing Team (dates listed are race days)
LINKS
For SRT USA:
For SRRT:
