There was a lot of speculation in Queensland that Subaru Australia could be on the verge of a limited return to the East Coast Bullbars Australian Rally Championship next season, with four-wheel drives once again coming into the premier category.
If the rumours are to be believed, and that’s a mighty big maybe, Subaru and Les Walkden could be gearing up for a two-car attack on next year’s championship. But let’s go back a step and review the history that’s led up to this point.
When Subaru Australia departed the ARC at the end of the 2005 season, off the back of winning ten titles in a row, they cited the fact that they had nothing more to prove in the sport and that the freedom’s being given to Toyota and their Group N (P) Corolla were too lenient and not in the true spirit of rallying.
At that time both Subaru and Mitsubishi were still actively campaigning Group N machinery around the World, while the Group N (P) regulations had been developed by the ARC to encourage manufacturer’s like Toyota to build customized rally cars from lesser road car bases. Underneath Toyota’s Corolla was the original engine and four-wheel driveline from a Celica GT-Four.
With Subaru signaling their intent to depart the local Championship, but with commitments to their reigning Champion Cody Crocker and one-make RS Challenge winner Eli Evans, they turned their efforts to the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship with the team being run for the 2006 season by Tasmanian Les Walkden.
Walkden, who had fielded cars for Subaru and Mitsubishi through the 90’s and 2000’s, at one stage had a working relationship with Subaru Australia when they ran a young Dean Herridge in the 2001 Australian Rally Championship Privateers Cup, and then linked up again running the team on Subaru’s behalf in the 2006 Asia-Pacific.
The 2007 Bathurst 12 Hour, where Cody Crocker, Dean Herridge and Chris Atkinson co-drove together was the last fully official Subaru Australia motorsport programme.
In the intervening years there has been many on again-off again rumours about Subaru returning to the sport, but Managing Director Nick Senior made his intentions clear when asked by motoring.com.au last year about the two-wheel drive direction the local rally Championship had taken.
“We can't participate in the Australian Rally Championship and win it, because all-wheel drive turbo cars can't win the Australian Rally Championship. If we were allowed to run all-wheel drive turbocharged cars, which are a pretty inherent part of our DNA, we would be in there in a flash,” he was quoted as saying last April.
So with the ARC once again bringing four-wheel drive into the premier category next season will Subaru follow Senior’s commitment to return? Queensland raised two interesting aspects in this jigsaw puzzle.
Firstly it is fairly common knowledge in the sport that Subaru Australia currently has two 2015-spec Impreza WRX STi’s at Possum Bourne Motor Sport (PBMS) in New Zealand being built up to motorsport spec.
Secondly Les Walkden, who has made very brief appearances at Australian Rally Championship rounds over recent years, was in Queensland and a very keen observer around the service park.
Sources close to both camps have insisted that the two cars for Subaru Australia are unlikely to be bound for the ARC, and that they are more than likely to become show cars or be on sold to customers.
Contacts close to Walkden said that the cunning businessmen has purchased two of his own 2015-spec Imprezas.
“I’d say it’s highly unlikely we’ll see Subaru Australia back in the ARC in a full factory capacity,” said one source. “But it is possible that Subaru could back someone like a Les Walkden to make a low key return.”
While another contact said: “No chance in the world the two cars being built for Subaru Australia will be for rallying. The Les news is interesting though, he always has a plan up his sleeve.”
In the background Cody Crocker, who currently drives in the Side-by-Side series for Polaris, and Dean Herridge, who has carved a niche as the sport’s colour commentator on television, both have ongoing contracts with Subaru Australia and both have a history working with Walkden.
Or could we see a Les Walkden curve ball thrown into the mix as he did when he imported Finn Juha Kangas to drive a privateer Mitsubishi in the early 2000s. When quietly asked if he was planning a comeback, Les Walkden simply grinned and said: “One day, maybe…”
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