SUBARU MOTORSPORTS SPECTATOR GUIDE

Photos: Lars Gange – Subaru.com/rally

SUBARU IS INVOLVED IN MOTORSPORTS IN AMERICA AND AROUND THE WORLD. HOW CAN YOU GET THE MOST OUT OF THESE EVENTS? READ ON – WE’LL TAKE YOU RACING!

THE WHY OF SUBARU MOTORSPORTS

Traditionally, automakers cite motorsports as a means for proving their products. Motorsports demonstrate capabilities under extreme conditions. In turn, automakers utilize the rigors of racing to improve their vehicles by testing new components “under fire.”

The different types of racing push drivers and machines to their limits to determine which are best. No single racing series proves and improves all vehicles, so automakers participate in the motorsports series that best maximize their investments and exposure to fans of their brands.

THE WHAT OF SUBARU MOTORSPORTS

Those of you familiar with Subaru of America, Inc. (SOA) and Drive Performance magazine know that SOA has official motorsports involvement on three fronts: rally, road racing, and time attack.

Rally

As the longest tenured of the teams racing under the SOA banner, Subaru Rally Team USA (SRT USA) competes in the Rally America National Championship and has been invited to X Games Rally the last three years. Also, team members have competed internationally in the Production World Rally Championship. SRT USA races Impreza WRX STI models prepared and fielded by Vermont SportsCar, based in Colchester, Vermont.

Competitive rally events take place on private and public roads that have been closed to other vehicles. The roads are not usually main thoroughfares, but back roads and logging trails far removed from heavily populated areas.

Rallies are competed in a series of “stages,” which are several sections of roads from less than a mile to more than 20 miles in length. Stages are run day or night. The cars travel from stage to stage on public roads, so they are required to be licensed and have legal road-going equipment. Between certain stages during an event, teams take the cars to service areas for refueling and re-prepping, including any repairs necessary for the next set of stages.

Every competing rally vehicle has a driver and a co-driver. The co-driver is responsible for reading the route notes aloud so the driver knows what’s coming – turns, jumps, straight sections, etc. In the Rally America series, every team receives notes prepared by the sanctioning body before the rally. Drivers/co-drivers often face roads they’ve never seen before. That’s part of the challenge.

After the sanctioning body determines the start order, the cars take off at specific intervals (often it’s 60 seconds). Then they’re timed at the end of the stage – down to thousandths of a second. The times are added together from stage to stage, and the winner is determined by the least accumulated time at the end of the rally.

Road Racing and Time Attack

During the last few years, the Subaru Road Racing Team (SRRT) has competed in the Sports Car Club of America Touring 2 races and, most recently, in the Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge in the Street Tuner Class. SRRT is racing Legacy 2.5GT spec.B race cars prepared and fielded by ICY Racing/Phoenix Performance out of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.

Last year, SOA partnered with Crawford Performance to build an unlimited class time attack WRX STI. (It’s the “Tiger” car featured in Drive Performance Version 5.3. Crawford entered the car in a number of time attack events, driven by Eiji “Tarzan” Yamada and Tanner Foust.

Both road racing and time attack take place on road courses. These might be racing-specific venues, such as Lime Rock, Mid-Ohio, or Laguna Seca; oval tracks with road-racing provisions, such as Daytona International Speedway or Homestead-Miami Speedway; or temporary street courses, such as Trois-Rivières.

Each event has its own schedule, involving practice, qualifying, and the race. Sanctioning bodies keep the events similar from venue to venue, but it behooves a fan to consult event schedules to make the most of a race weekend.

Practice sessions are important to attend because they provide an observer with some background about the vehicles and their markings, teams, who is running well, who is not, and new drivers/cars/teams and what they can do. Time the competitors with a stopwatch to see which teams are the ones to beat. Although sometimes they’ll hold back a little to not give away their strengths, a fan can get a good idea about the nature of the competition by closely watching practice sessions.

Qualifying sessions generally are short and intense. In the KONI Challenge and time attack series, a number of cars are on the track at the same time, so it’s like watching the race itself. Have a stopwatch handy to see how your favorite car is performing, even though timings for all the cars will be available after the session. For road racing, you’ll know who’s fastest by the order of the starting grid for the race – the fastest cars qualify in front.

There’s a twist in KONI Challenge road racing, though – each car must have at least two drivers. Each has to be behind the wheel for a certain amount of time during the race. Most often, a team will make the faster of the two drivers the final one to pilot the car. Since the first driver qualifies the car, qualifying times won’t always indicate the final potential of the car.

EFFECTIVE ATTENDANCE

Where to Go/What to Look for

Rally: Rally vehicles and drivers/co-drivers are most accessible during the time prior to a day’s events, in parc expose. The rally cars are parked for display in a mall parking lot or other large parking area that’s able to contain them as well as spectator vehicles. Fans can meet team members and take a close look at cars that they’ll see later on the stages.

Some rallies include super special stages that incorporate a stadium (such as X Games Rally), a road racing course (such as Portland International for the Oregon Trail Rally), portions of a dirt-track oval (Ojibwe Forests Rally), or fairgrounds tractor-pull arena (Susquehannock Trail Rally). These make spectating relatively easy. Otherwise, spectator areas are designated at corners and other portions of stages where a fan can see exciting driving action. But these generally are far removed from populated areas and demand determined travel and timing.

Crews supporting each of the rally venues set aside and mark spectator areas plus provide directions to them in printed guides and online. These areas can be deep in the woods, near service areas, or along public parks, depending on the rally. Getting to some of them can be an adventure in itself. The guides give spectators the times for viewing, based on the rally’s overall schedule. Be sure to stay in authorized areas.

Experienced spectators are helpful. They’ll let you know where they think the best viewing is among the lists of possibilities and the easiest ways to get to them. Usually it’s not possible to reach all the spectating areas for any given rally because of the time it takes to drive and then walk to them.

Often, spectating areas offer only limited sections of a stage. But they’re set up for potentially viewing skillful driving techniques. If a rally crowd gathers, instant critiques in the form of applause and ringing bells are possible.

Road Racing/Time Attack: The choice of the best vantage point on a road course is determined by personal taste. Some spectators want to see speed, so they’ll choose seats along a fast straight. Others like the action found in corners, so they’ll camp out near a turn. Still other spectators like a little bit of everything, and most venues are laid out to allow passage from one part of a track to another. Stay in authorized areas.

Each type of track – road course, modified oval, or temporary street track – has its own advantages for watching a race. A road course generally gives spectators the most freedom to move around and find a favorite vantage spot. Modified ovals usually have stands that allow spectators to view the entire track. Temporary street races have limited viewing areas, but with stands situated to provide good views of different sections of the course.

Pay special attention to the schedules, so you’ll know when the cars and/or series that you’re interested in will be on the track during a race weekend.

Between times, fans usually have access to the paddock, where the teams have set up their service areas. Depending on the venue and number of racing series at a given event, you might find your favorite teams in a garage or under the awning of the team’s transporter – on pavement, gravel, or grass.

Road racing and time attack have an advantage over rally in that tracks usually have some kind of sound system and announcers that keep you in touch with what is happening. Even better – they also have food!