The Subaru Impreza WRX

The 5th running of the Targa West Tarmac rally was held between August 20th and 23rd, in and around Perth Western Australia. Consisting of 30 special stages, this years Targa West saw ten WRX cars of varying age and specifications compete against some of the fastest cars on the planet.

Last year's winner Steven Jones was in one of 3 new Nissan GTR 35's which would provide tough competition, although with former British rally champion Alister McRae in a brand new Ralliart prepared Mitsubishi EVO 10 in the same category, he wasn't going to get it all his own way. Local driver Dean Herridge took the wheel of a 2008 WRX STI, relegating former Australian rally champion father Rob, to a 2005 model, one of five WRX cars entered under the Maximum Motorsport banner.

While the GTR35's proved unbeatable on the long open stages, the 2008 sti driven by Dean, was the first of the WRX cars across the finish line in third place outright, some 1 minute 36 seconds quicker than the Lancer Evo 10RS driven by former British champion Alister McRae.

WRX STI's also took out 7th, 9th and 10th places in the modern competition category. Ivan Thompson took 7th place in his MY06 model STI and impressively, Brendon Winterbourne drove his MY99 model 1999 impreza WRX to 9th place ahead of a myriad of Mitsubishi Lancer EVO's, V8's and Porsche GT3's.

So it is a great testament to the engineers of Subaru and prodrive that have produced WRX cars over the past 15 years that have consistently excelled in the race & rally environment, but are still within reach of the average rally competitor. This Year's Targa West has proven that 10 year old wrx cars can outperform newer vehicles costing many times the price, so the Subaru Impreza WRX is definitely an excellent choice if you are looking for an ultra competitive rally car. It was also great to see the mighty MK1 Escort in the classic category - another rally legend still going 40 years on.

Alan Blackmore is a business owner, motorsport enthusiast and writes for a number of online motoring resources including:

Wrx Cars and WRX Tuning
Mk1 Escort Rally Preparation

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