New Dawn for Sasol Subaru
Excitement reached fever pitch at Team Sasol Subaru when their new Impreza STI hatchback was fired up for the first time and the car headed out onto the Midvaal circuit for her maiden shakedown run ahead of rounds nine and ten of the Bridgestone Production Car Championship at Kyalami this weekend.
The team has worked around the clock over the past few weeks in the run-up to round five of the Wesbank Super Series to ensure the Impreza is race-ready for the much heralded debut at a track their driver Dawie Olivier enjoys.
The Impreza STI hatchback had another run at Phakisa two weeks ago and Dawie’s initial impression of his new racer was immediately very favorable.
“There was a sense of relief after we ran 40 laps at the Midvaal circuit. The handling, without any set-up work, was a noticeable improvement over the old car. We found that the nose was too high so we’ve changed the shock absorbers to sort that out”, Dawie reported after his first run.
“The Impreza STI hatch has huge potential and is very close to the pace after only its third outing”, Dawie said. “We’ve had a few technical issues to address during our short tests but like any racing team, I wish we had another couple of weeks available to do some extra development work”.
The Kyalami circuit has changed since the series last visited the venue in late March. “The new corner which replaces the old kink is very quick, reducing lap times by around 2½ seconds per lap. You approach it virtually blind, unable to see where the track heads. The approach to the final corner is much quicker and will offer another overtaking opportunity”, Dawie said of the revised layout.
Dawie added: “It’s been a mammoth effort that’s taken its toll on everyone in the team, but the result has been worth it. The car is stunning in its new Sasol livery and should cause quite a stir when the public sees it on race day”.
Grant Bowring: Sasol Subaru Team Manager
“The Subaru Impreza STI hatchback officially allows us to showcase the production offerings from Fuji Heavy Industries, Subaru’s parent company.”
“The new car is technologically streets ahead of our old Impreza saloon. The Impreza STI hatchback has been conceived, designed and assembled in a relatively short five months. We will use the remaining rounds of the championship as extended test sessions to fine tune the car ahead of the 2010 season”.
“We believe that the car is quite close to the pace and it’s up to us to extract the maximum performance that the package allows us. One thing we’ve learnt is that constant development is an absolute necessity otherwise you get let behind. We elected to place our resources into the new hatchback and our results in the last few races reflect that. That said, there is only one direction and that is forward - the new look and feel car and hyped up team is ready to give our sponsors and fans something to be proud of.”
Kyalami will once again reverberate to the sound of dozens of Subaru boxer engines as the Subaru Owners’ Club of South Africa takes to the track in a lunchtime parade, a fitting ‘guard of honour’ for the new Team Sasol Subaru STI, while Subaru Southern Africa and its dealer network will host 150 guests at their boma on raceday.
