General News
4 August 2006

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SWRT driver Stéphane Sarrazin made a recent visit to Japan, arriving in the country on July 26th. He participated in a development test for the GT300-class IMPREZA that made its race debut in SUPER GT the previous weekend. Featuring an all-new chassis and revised AWD system, the car made its debut in Japan's most popular racing series, SUPER GT for round 4 of the series, held on July 23rd. The advantage of the AWD system was demonstrated recently in wet conditions during practice for the Round 4 event, though problems with the rear diff meant retirement for the car in the race. Stéphane was on hand to provide development feedback on the new chassis, as it ran a dry set-up in the test.

The French driver, who went directly from Narita's New Tokyo International Airport to the hotel at Twin Ring Motegi, showed up in the paddock wearing his SWRT racing overalls on the morning of the 27th. The SUPER GT Official joint test commenced on that day, and Stéphane's appearance created quite a stir among the assembled media present at the test. Stéphane, the two regular drivers of the IMPREZA, and the CUSCO team mechanics got to work on their objectives for the test,

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paying no attention to the rumours that flew about the paddock as to whether Stéphane would join the team as third driver for the upcoming 1,000-kilometre race at Suzuka.

The schedule of the day's test was supposed to comprise two hours' running in the morning, followed by an equal amount of time in the afternoon. Amidst humid conditions, the temperature stood at 27 degrees Celsius under cloudy skies, with the track remaining dry throughout the day. First to take the wheel of the IMPREZA was regular driver Katsuo Kobayashi, followed by Stéphane. Afterwards, most of the test time was taken up as Stéphane made repeated pit stops and a variety of adjustments on the car. Changes such as ride height, spring rates, damper characteristics, brake balance, and detailed adjustments to the anti roll bars took up the bulk of the day's test time.

Stéphane Sarrazin
"The car is really very stable, and overall it's a good package. The AWD system shows its strength not only in the wet, but also running in dry conditions. However, there is still a lot to be done to the set up. It might take a little more time, but this is a car with the clear potential to win."

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To get a better idea of the direction of the set-up and how the session was progressing, the team put racing slicks on the car and sent it out toward the end of the morning. However, light rain began to fall almost immediately and a proper time attack was not able to be carried out. Following this, a slump in engine power curtailed the car's running and the day's test was shortened. The next day would see an accelerated set-up test programme for the car.

July 28th saw the French ace again take part in the test at Twin Ring Motegi, this time taking over principal duties in the day's test programme, later handing over the car to regular driver Kobayashi.


Katsuo Kobayashi
"It was a pleasure to have Stéphane working with us in this test. His feedback and input on the car's behaviour, while changing each element of the chassis little by little, allowed us to find a good set-up on the car. It was much the same as our usual programme for the car, and we were able to reach our objective in a short amount of time. The car's handling is now very good indeed." he commented.

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Mr Hiroshi Mori, Project General Manager (PGM) of the IMPREZA programme also took part in the first day of the test. The CUSCO team requested the advice of Mori-san on the planning and development phases of their GT300 chassis, knowing his expertise in development of the road car, focusing on cooperation in areas of stress analysis and layout. The main theme in testing with the new World Rally Car is a big improvement in the handling on tarmac. Stéphane reported by telephone to Petter Solberg, presently in Europe, the latest test report details.

Stéphane Sarrazin
"The GT300-class IMPREZA is a race car. However, the DNA is the same as a World Rally car. I was able to gain a lot of hints in the understanding of the rally car set-up in this test. Within the SUBARU family, I would, without a doubt, love to have the opportunity to once again cooperate on the development of the race car." he said.