It was quite a season for Subaru in 2003 — Tommi Makinen’s last season in the WRC, Petter Solberg fighting for and ultimately winning the driver’s championship, and the return of Richard Burns. The team got some bad news soon after celebrating Solberg’s victory, when it was announced that Burns would sit out the 2004 due to treatment for a brain tumor. There were rumors that Subaru would pursue Colin McRae, but the two couldn’t come to terms and Subaru instead signed Finnish youngster Mikko Hirvonen. But before we talk about 2004 any more, let’s talk about 2003 for a moment.
There are many Subaru fans that are happy to see Makinen retire. After starting his time at Subaru off with a five consecutive victory at Monte Carlo, Makinen had a string of bad luck that ran nearly two seasons. He did end his career on a high note, finishing along side Solberg on the podium in Great Britain, but there were many frustrating races in between. But Makinen’s retirement is a great loss to the team, and a great loss to Petter Solberg. Repeatedly over the past two seasons, Solberg was quick to credit his success to working with Makinen. The two had a very special bond as teammates, and Makinen was always ready to help Solberg with advice gleaned from 24 WRC wins. I always thought this image, taken just after Solberg finished the final stage on last years Rally GB to win the title, summed up their relationship nicely. Do you really think Carlos Sainz would have run over and hugged Sebastien Loeb had he won the championship? Solberg will continue to be successful, but both he and the team will sorely miss Makinen’s experience.
That said, Subaru went from a potential contender for manufacturer’s title to another also-ran when Burns took the year off and the team couldn’t come to terms with McRae. This isn’t necessarily a slight against Hirvonen — but imagine Solberg driving alongside Burns and McRae. But Subaru should still have a good showing, as it’s expected that Hirvonen will score some points for his new team.
The Impreza should be quite reliable this year, as the team is not releasing a new world rally car this season. There were some growing pains with the 2003 model, but after a shaky spring campaign, the Impreza carried Solberg with the highest points tally since the Acropolis Rally in June. The biggest question mark for the car is, as always, it’s performance on the sealed surfaces. Solberg scored a win in France this season, but that was thanks to extremely wet weather (in which the Impreza and its Pirellis do quite well). With Seb Loeb in the quick Citroen Xsara, the Impreza has to find more power on tarmac to keep Solberg in the title hunt. Solberg will benefit from the surface switch in Italy, however, with one less tarmac round to contest.
Does Solberg stand the chance to repeat? Yes. The addition of three gravel rallies to the schedule will work to his advantage. Solberg’s proven he’s not just a quick youngster — he had several mature drives in 2003 to win rallies, and he’ll need more of the same in 2004 to stay in the hunt. And Hirvonen? It would certainly be expected that he could scratch out a few good finishes, say in the top 8. Hopefully Solberg will take the cue from his mentor Makinen, and help Hirvonen reach his potential as well.
Posted on 4 January 2004