Subaru brings back blue and gold for US motorsport efforts

Subaru has brought back its iconic blue and gold colour scheme as part of a wider rebranding of its American motorsport programmes for 2019.

Previously the Vermont Sports Car-ran Subaru Rally Team USA competed in the American Rally Association series, as well as rallycross. Now stage rally, rallycross, record attempts, off-road racing, and circuit racing will all be combined under the new ‘Subaru Motorsports’ moniker.

VSC will continue to handle Subaru’s rally and rallycross programmes, and it will compete in off-road racing with Crawford Performance and Grabowski Brothers Racing, with TechSport Racing campaigning in the Pirelli World Challenge with the brand.

As part of the major rebrand, Subaru Motorsports will run a blue and gold livery on its cars. The throwback colour scheme, which was teased over Christmas, was made famous by the company’s World Rally Championship programme in the 1990s and 2000s.

“These colours are part of our brand’s history, and beloved by our enthusiasts,” said Alan Bethke, Vice President of Marketing for Subaru of America. “For a generation of rally fans, Subaru is synonymous with blue cars, gold wheels and the iconic star cluster. This new design pays tribute to that heritage, while looking ahead to future success under the Subaru Motorsports name.”

The livery – which incorporates a base coat of Subaru WR Blue Pearl paint, gold painted wheels, and a prominent yellow Subaru logo stretching across the entire side of the car – will be first seen in public at the North American International Auto Show which begins in Detroit next week.

Subaru Motorsports will be hoping its tribute to the company’s past successes will propel it to further glory this year. In 2018 it won another US rally title – its eighth in a row and its 13th since the turn of the century – and finished the inaugural Americas Rallycross season with two of its drivers in the top five in of the points standings.

In 2019 four-time US rallycross champion Scott Speed will join the team’s rallycross effort alongside Chris Atkinson and Patrik Sandell. For rallying, David Higgins will again lead the team’s charge, while Atkinson, Sandell, and five-time US rally champion Travis Pastrana are all expected to feature on the stages at some point throughout the year in the team’s second entry.