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Location: Outer Sth East burbs, VIC
Registered: July 2004
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Location: Sydney
Registered: January 2003
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Re: Subaru rally team australia withdraw from rallying
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Wed, 02 November 2005 11:14
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Damn....I'm no Subaru fan, but that's a huge call, kinda like when Toyota threw in the towel with the Celica. But rallying went on, there are still some quality marques out there, but Subaru was certainly special.
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Location: Cabramatta, NSW
Registered: May 2002
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Re: Subaru rally team australia withdraw from rallying
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Wed, 02 November 2005 11:26
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A bit sad to see a complete withdrawl, especially with such short notice.
But then again....
Bring on the Spec.B attack of Targa Tassie!!!
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Location: Brisbane
Registered: February 2003
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Re: Subaru rally team australia withdraw from rallying
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Wed, 02 November 2005 11:30
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does this mean they'll focus on WRC or is that too up for the chop?
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Location: Melbourne
Registered: December 2003
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Re: Subaru rally team australia withdraw from rallying
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Wed, 02 November 2005 11:31
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Wow, that's big.Really big
i think they might regret it
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Location: Outer Sth East burbs, VIC
Registered: July 2004
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Re: Subaru rally team australia withdraw from rallying
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Wed, 02 November 2005 11:33
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thechuckster wrote on Wed, 02 November 2005 22:30 | does this mean they'll focus on WRC or is that too up for the chop?
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I think its just an subaru australia decision, nothing to do with the worldwide plans.
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Location: Cabramatta, NSW
Registered: May 2002
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Re: Subaru rally team australia withdraw from rallying
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Wed, 02 November 2005 11:47
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Yup. It's only Australia. How many people really know about the ARC anyway?
It makes more sense for them to concentrate on the tarmac stuff now. Especially if they start building a sporting pedigree for the Liberty within Australia.
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Location: South Australia
Registered: July 2002
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Re: Subaru rally team australia withdraw from rallying
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Wed, 02 November 2005 14:21
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I hate to say it but if Possum Bourne was still around this wouldn't have happened No one ever stepped up to fill in his shoes (no easy task i admiut) and the australian rallying scene has been crapped up without him.
I've never really been fond of Subaru's (read : Nick Senior's) attitude towards rallying in Australia, and I think this move just about sums it up.
Hopefully no one important ever reads this next statement, (and, horrifyingly, I may be driving a WRX in the South Australian Rally Championship next year or the year after) but I say "piss off Subaru"
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Location: South Australia
Registered: July 2002
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Re: Subaru rally team australia withdraw from rallying
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Wed, 02 November 2005 14:31
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As for it making 'more sense' for them to focus on the tarmac events... well I'd say both yes and no. The tarmac rallying scene is fairly scarce at the moment, and there are plenty of events that are struggling along (East Coast Classic) or have recently lost some of the top people guiding it (Targa Tasmania for example). So it's no bed of roses.
If Subaru expect that they can just hop into tarmac events and suddenly get more, or more cost effective, exposure then they are totally wrong.
Targa Tasmania, East Coast Classic, Classic Adelaide, Targa New Zealnd etc all attract big fields, but aren't that hotly contested. Each category will only have a few big names going for the top, and as for any sense of yearly championship, well people know less about any tarmac rallying championships than they do about the ARC.
Sure Subaru had to spend alot of money to get the ARC on TV, and they had laid alot of groundwork to build up the ARC and to make it bigger and better. *But* now they've decided to bail, and they will have to spend that money *all* over again to prop up Tarmac rallying's level of exposure, which if you ask me, is just dumb.
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