Broken suspension doesn’t stop Subaru WRX STI at Pacific Forest Rally

The 2015 Subaru WRX STI had another big win at Pacific Forest Rally in Merritt, B.C. this weekend, winning their third of four Canadian Rally Championship (CRC) events of this season. Driver Antoine L’Estage and co-driver Alan Ockwell topped the podium three minutes and 34 seconds ahead of the second place finisher Hardy Schmidtke and John Hall in their Mitsubishi EVO.

Subaru Rally Team Canada (SRTC) built an early lead on day one of over two minutes and 20 seconds and never looked back. The 2015 STI experienced some rear driver side suspension issues after a large compression caused some damage on the rough terrain on day two, but the team had enough of a lead to hold off the Mitsubishi EVO.

Antoine L’Estage said an emergency fix with a ratchet strap helped them limp the Subaru STI along until they could get back to the service area where the Rocket Rally Racing guys could fix the problem. L’Estage said, “On the second run of the Coldwater stage we had a big compression that broke the lower control arm, which caused other components to break as well, so we limped through the stage and got through it.”

SRTC has now won three of the four 2015 CRC national events, extending their point leads in all three of the CRC titles, manufacturer, driver and co-driver. L’Estage went on to say after the win, “We could not be happier to extend our lead in the championship!” Next up is the Rocky Mountain Rally October 31 and November 1, in Invermere, B.C. Stay tuned.

Media source: Subaru Canada