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SUBARU DEVELOPS
THE NEW IMPREZA WRC IN SARDINIA
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Last week
during the Montecarlo Rallye,
the Subaru test team made a
series of tests that lasted five
days with the new impreza WRC
2008, on the gravel roads in the
Oristano county.
The driver was the Eston Markko
Martin, the official tester of
the English-Japanese team.
The team from Banbury, leaded by
Tom Hunt, had chosen to carry
out this first session of tests
on the gravel in Sardinia to
improve the new Subaru and also
to make some comparative trials
with the old Impreza, driving
through the same gravel roads as
last years near Ruinas. |
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The Technical
manager of Subaru, engineer Christophe
Chapelain, has worked overall on the
reliability of the new car, which is
completely different from the old one.
It’s shorter and has a different balance
of weights. The shock absorbers, the
transmissions and the suspensions are
all new.
Hundreds of kilometres were run on the
tracks, which are chosen ad hoc, to
verify the reliability of the new
Impreza, which passed out standingly the
test.
This was the absolute debut on gravel
for the new Subaru, which could debut
also during the WRC, even May in Rally
d’Italia Sardegna.
The debut of the car in the WRC won’t
happen in Jordan, assures Prodrive.
From May, though any race will be good
to see the car at work, from Sardinia to
Finland.
Before long Citroen and Ford will be in
Sardinia to verify the set up of the C4
and of the Focus on the gravel and to
develop the quality of the Pirelli tyres,
which, starting from this year, cannot
use the mousse on gravel as the
regulations state. |
