Subaru re-enters rallying

Subaru Australia will confirm its re-entry into the Australian Rally Championship (ARC) tonight. Company boss, Nick Senior, is expected to drop the bombshell during a MY16 production car press conference.

The ARC entry will be with a single WRX STi NR4 racer driven by rising star and Peter Brock Medal winner, Molly Taylor. Taylor, who finished second in the 2015 ARC title race, will be partnered by long-time pro co-driver Bill Hayes and the team will be run by Les Walkden Rallying (LWR).

The new squad's first ARC outing is the Forest Rally in WA in April.

Subaru last fielded official entries in the ARC in 2005. However, prior to its departure, the brand's success in a strong era of the local championship was arguably unrivalled: 10 straight Driver's Championships and eight Manufacturers' titles – the last six in succession.

Local Subaru boss Senior is a long-time fan of motorsport but to date has maintained that the local motorsport scene has been moribund of options for the Japanese brand. However, he has told motoring.com.au on a number of occasions he believed Subaru was in danger of losing its competition credibility, so long was the hiatus.

Last year the company denied any imminent entry into the title. Since then, the move away from two-wheel drive as the ARC's premier category has re-opened the door to the brand, which aggressively champions its all-wheel-drive heritage.

"We are going to be realistic about our expectations in this first season," Senior told motoring.com.au.

"The new ARC rules are quite loose but we have chosen to run a showroom stock Group N STI — our motorsport philosophy is run on Sunday, buy on Monday," he said.

Taylor is contracted to Subaru for the championship. She will also be involved in a range of off-track marketing activities for the brand.

"It will be a steep learning curve for Molly in what is a bigger, heavier car than she's used to," Senior said.

"[But] She's a very talented and accomplished driver and a perfect ambassador for the brand as we seek to attract more customers — especially younger car buyers.

"I'm also very pleased to re-kindle our partnership with LWR. The team has considerable Group N experience," Senior stated.

Insiders say the team's approach to promotion will be innovative. Senior has long criticised local motorsport for its relative lack of 'imagination' in this sense. motoring.com.au believes Subaru's 'gimmick' will be to leverage and amplify its involvement in sports like cycling via the rally car's livery which will change from event to event.