Subaru have become the latest team to withdraw from next year's World Rally Championship as the economic downturn continues to hit motorsport hard.

It comes a day after Suzuki also quit the WRC and less than a fortnight after Honda withdrew from Formula One.

Colin McRae, Richard Burns and Petter Solberg all won titles with the Japanese team in its 20-year history.

"This sudden decision is a response to the widespread downturn affecting the industry," Subaru said in a statement.

The team was established in 1989, when the manufacturer teamed up with Prodrive, a motorsport and automotive engineering group with dealings in the UK, Thailand and Australia.


"Subaru's departure from the World Rally Championship is a great loss as it is one of the sport's icons," added Prodrive chairman David Richards.

"Although this closes a significant chapter in Prodrive's history, our focus now turns to the future."

Richards, who also owns the commercial and media rights to the World Rally Championships, said the decision had been taken over the course of the weekend as the economic downturn claimed another victim in the world of sport.

"We had an urgent call for a meeting over the weekend," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"Despite the fact that we have entered the championship for next year and were actually testing last week in Spain, Subaru just felt the sudden downturn in their business was so dramatic that they had to make some quick decisions."

606: DEBATE
It's a real shame - WRC won't be the same without the blue and yellow cars around

BlueMain
Among his previous roles were stints as team principal at Formula One teams BAR and Benetton, and Prodrive may now look at a move into motorsport's highest tier.

The 56-year-old Richards admitted he would now have more time to think about such a step and said radical cost-cutting measures, which were announced by the sport's governing body last week, made a move into F1 more "realistic".

In the meantime, Prodrive has said it will be looking to redeploy staff assigned to the WRC programme, which accounts for around 20% of the company's turnover.

Subaru won six world titles in all, with the last coming with Solberg's victory in 2003. But recent years have been harder going for Subaru, with their last rally win coming in Mexico back in 2005.

Subaru's exit leaves just two manufacturers in next year's championship in the shape of Citroen and Ford.

So does that mean they wont be racing in the rally thats planed for down my way, (northern NSW) then, later next yr...ADAM ..?

that be bad..if thats the case.!
Be nice to see the SUBARU racing in my area.. in a WRC

Subaru has announced its decision to withdraw from the 2009 World Rally Championship.

This sudden decision was in response to the widespread economic downturn that is affecting the entire automotive industry, and follows Suzuki’s withdrawal announced yesterday.

After 20 years in the sport, during which time the Prodrive-run Subaru World Rally Team has won six World Rally Championship titles, this is not only sad news for Subaru and the team, but also for millions of rallying fans around the world. Thanks to its highly successful World Rally Championship programme, Subaru has developed into one of the world’s most widely recognised and evocative automotive brands.

Prodrive chairman, David Richards, said: “Subaru’s departure from the World Rally Championship is a great loss as it is one of the sport’s icons. The Subaru World Rally Team has created true champions such as Colin McRae and Richard Burns and its absence will be felt by many the world over. Although this decision closes a significant chapter in Prodrive’s history, our focus now turns to the future.”

For many, Prodrive and Subaru are synonymous, given the long-standing and close association between the two companies. However, while the Subaru World Rally Team historically represented a significant part of Prodrive’s business, today it accounts for no more than 20 per cent of the company’s turnover.

Prodrive will look to redeploy as many of the rally team as possible in other areas of its business operations, which have grown to span advanced engineering and manufacturing for the automotive, defence, marine and aerospace industries, in addition to other motorsport programmes.

Despite the current economic downturn, Prodrive’s automotive engineering business remains buoyant as it works with vehicle manufacturers to accelerate the development of next generation fuel-efficient vehicles and alternative fuel technologies.

Together with Subaru, Prodrive’s commitment to its customer rally teams will also continue unabated for 2009 and beyond. Over the past 15 years, Prodrive has sold close to 500 rally cars to more than 400 private competitors and independent rally teams in 47 countries. During this time, Prodrive’s customers have won five consecutive Production World Rally Championships and countless international rallies. In 2008, Prodrive-supported customer teams have claimed eight rally championship titles around the world.

Looking ahead, 2010 will see the introduction of new World Rally Championship technical regulations, which provide Prodrive with an opportunity to prepare for re-entering the championship with a new team and build on its 24 years of World Rally Championship experience and success.