Subaru Tecnica International (STI) will be participating in tomorrow’s Nürburgring 24-Hour Race. The endurance race will be happening between the 20th and 23rd of June and will also see the participation of the Toyota GR Supra.
The car they’re sending is aptly called the Subaru WRX STI NBR Challenge 2019. It’ll run in the SP3T class (2-litre turbocharged class). Compared to last year, their car has been improved in a number of ways.
- Lower friction between engine components
- Lower gear ratios, revised step ratios, and smoother gear shifts
- Lightweight clutch assembly
- Revised chassis geometry
- Improved aero thanks to new parts and “shark skin” paint
For more, check out the press release below.
Press Release
Subaru Corporation is pleased to announce that its motorsports subsidiary, Subaru Tecnica International (STI), will participate in the 47th Nürburgring 24-Hour Race to be held at the Nürburgring in the Eifel region of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on June 20 to 23, 2019, entering a vehicle based on the Subaru WRX STI. This is Subaru’s 12th Nürburgring 24-Hour Race challenge since the first challenge in 2008.
The Subaru WRX STI NBR CHALLENGE 2019 is going to run in the SP3T class, the class for vehicles powered by turbocharged engines with displacement up to 2.0 liter, and aims for 6th win in the class.
In developing the 2019 race car, STI has made following improvements over the class-winning 2018 car, while maintaining the combination of horizontally-opposed engine and symmetrical AWD layout, to achieve faster and more controllable car at the long and hilly so-called world’s most challenging circuit Nürburgring.
<Measure Improvements of SUBARU WRX STI NBR CHALLENGE 2019>
- Engine performance enhancement with lowered friction
- Faster acceleration with lowered gear ratio and smoother gear shifting with revised step ratio
- Powertrain performance enhancements with employment of lightweight clutch assembly
- Improvement of turning characteristics with optimized chassis geometry
- Improvement of aerodynamics with updated aero parts and shark skin paint
Leading the team as the Team General Manager is Hideharu Tatsumi of STI. As for team driver line-up, Carlo van Dam (Netherlands), Tim Schrick (Germany), Hideki Yamauchi (Japan) and Takuto Iguchi (Japan) will be driving again as the defending SP3T class champion.
In addition, eight service technicians carefully selected from Subaru dealers in Japan will join the team again to support the race. Subaru has had dealer service technicians participate in overseas auto races since 1990, an initiative aimed at delivering the “Enjoyment and Peace of Mind” to customers by improving the technical skills of technicians. Through the end of 2018, total of 369 Subaru dealer service technicians had taken part in Safari Rallies, World Rally Championships, and the Nürburgring 24-Hour Races.
