Subaru Rally Team USA’s first effort on the World Rallycross stage was a great success at Round 7 of the World RX Championship in Trois Rivieres, Canada. SRT USA Driver Sverre Isachsen won two of four heat races in his Subaru WRX STI and advanced to the semi-final round where he finished 5th. It was a fantastic opportunity to compete against the top teams in the world and SRT USA proved the competitiveness of the Subaru STI platform.
With the track having been completed overnight racers took their first hot laps at noon on Friday during practice. The jumps were extremely aggressive and harsh landings immediately proved to be a problem for many competitors. On two occasions Isachsen bent his steering linkage and required repair before being able to continue. This was a surprise for the team as the GRC series features countless huge jumps and it’s never been an issue. However the shape of one of the jumps on the Canadian track proved problematic, unsettling and kicking up the cars as they launched over the jump. SRT USA technicians worked quickly to repair Isachsen’s car, at times in less than 10 minutes, during the hectic single day event format.
The former 3-time European Rallycross Champion Sverre Isachsen was thrilled to be back racing against his old European based rivals who are now competing in the newly formed FIA World Rallycross. Isachsen had to walk a fine line between conservative jumps and a fast pace as the rapid sequence of 4 heat races got underway. Isachsen was unable to finish the first heat race after taking damage off the tricky jump which was causing others problems as well. The lack of a score on the first heat put Isachsen under huge pressure to make it to the Semi-Final where only the top twelve top scoring cars after four heats would start.
Isachsen bounced back, winning his next two heat races and then finished 4th in his final heat race. The points gained were enough to put him into the coveted Semi-Final. During the second turn of the semi-final, Sverre was third on the approach, but was forced to brake hard to avoid a collision. This caused him to drop two spots and he maintained 5th position for the remainder of the race but missing a transfer spot to the Final. The whole team did a fantastic job and focus now shifts back to the remaining GRC rounds with the Daytona event less than two weeks away.
About Subaru Rally Team USA
Subaru Rally Team USA is managed by Vermont SportsCar and proudly supported by Subaru of America, Inc., Subaru Tecnica International (STI), Method Race Wheels, Royal Purple, eBay Motors, DMACK Tires, RECARO, PIAA and Race Proven. Follow the team on twitter: @srtusa, Instagram: @srtusa and online atwww.subaru.com/rally
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