Collin McRae's, Blue, Group N, Subaru Impreza WRC car being driven down the "Grand Avenue" at the 2016 London Classic Car Show
For 1997, McRae again led the team, however his co-driver Derek Ringer was replaced by Welshman Nicky Grist. Secondary driver/co-driver teams included Piero Liatti/Fabrizia Pons (first in Monte Carlo), Olivier Burri/Christophe Hofmann and Kenneth Eriksson/Staffan Parmander (first in Sweden and New Zealand). Once again the team successfully defended its Constructors Championship, winning eight victories out of the fourteen rallies, but McRae again lost the Driver's Championship to Tommi Makinen, this time by just one point. The Subaru World Rally Team (SWRT) was Subaru's World Rally Championship (WRC) team. It used a distinctive blue with yellow colour scheme that is a throwback to the sponsorship deal with State Express 555, a BAT cigarette brand popular in Asia. 555 logos were found on Subaru cars from 1993 to 2003, although less prevalent since 1999 due to BAT's participation in Formula One with British American Racing. Subaru's WRC efforts date back to 1980, however, the team, in its current form, has existed since 1989, when the British firm Prodrive took over its operations, and its base moved from Japan to Banbury, England. Subaru used the team to showcase its symmetrical all wheel drive technology. It has credited the increased sales of its vehicles, especially the Subaru Impreza, with its success in the World Rally Championship, in addition to popularizing its all-wheel-drive 2008 season drivers were Petter Solberg with co-driver Phil Mills, and Chris Atkinson with co-driver Stéphane Prévot. David Richards was the team's Principal, and a founder and chairman of Prodrive. Paul Howarth was the team's operations director and team manager. He replaced David Lapworth in 2006. Richard Taylor is the team's managing director. The team was historically an extremely strong one, competing in the WRC longer than any other manufacturer team in their current form. It has won the manufacturers' championship three times
Size: 5044px × 3286px
Location: ExCeL London, One Western Gateway, Royal Victoria Dock, London, E16 1XL
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1997, 2016, avenue, blue, car, classic, collin, driving, grand, grist, group, impreza, london, mcrae, network, nicky, rac, rally, show, side, subaru, view, winning, world, wrc
