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SUBARU IMPREZA 555 GROUP A STATISTICS AND RESULTS

CARS

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During the four years that Prodrive and Subaru campaigned the Impreza 555 only 9 distinct number plates were assigned to the works cars while competing in the WRC. All bar one of the registrations featured the numerics 555, the exception being N1WRC as used by Colin McRae in 1996. All in all, Prodrive built 63 Group A specification Imprezas with a significant number of these being used to re-shell the works cars and hence carried the familiar number plates.

L555BAT
L555REP
L555SRT
L555STE
M555STE
N1WRC
N555BAT
N555SRT
N555WRC



DRIVERS

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Ten drivers competed in WRC rallies as work's entries during the 1992-1996 seasons, with two of them - Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz - winning rallies outright in the car. The Asia Pacific championship was also contested with both Colin McRae and Possum Bourne taking wins.

Ari Vatanen (Finland)
Carlos Sainz (Spain)
Colin McRae (Great Britain)
Didier Auriol (France)
Kenneth Eriksson (Sweden)
Markku Alen (Finland)
Mats Jonsson (Sweden)
Piero Liatti (Italy)
Possum Bourne (New Zealand)
Richard Burns (Great Britain)



RALLIES

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1993 - Only two rallies were entered in the brand new Impreza 555, the others being contested in the outgoing group A Legacy. Ari Vatanen almost clinched victory on it's debut in Finland, setting 15 fastest stage times and finally coming home second. The sister car, driven by Markku Alen, crashed out just after the start.

On Rally GB Vatanen came home a little off the pace in fifth while Colin McRae retired with a punctured radiator.

1000 Lakes (Finland)	2nd DNF	Vatanen Alen	L555BAT L555STE
Great Britain	5th DNF	Vatanen McRae	L555STE L555BAT

1994 - The '94 car was of similar specification to the '93 model but now used Pirelli tyres instead of Michelin and featured a cockpit adjustable hydraulic front differential. A fully active centre differential was introduced for the Tour de Corse rally and was subsequently used in future rallies.

Carlos Sainz joined Subaru after a difficult year at Lancia to partner Colin McRae in a full WRC program. A string of podium finishes for one or other of the drivers, but rarely both, lead to second place in the Manufacturer's championship just behind Toyota. The Group A Impreza 555's first outright win came on the '94 Acropolis Rally and this was followed up by five more victories in the WRC and Asia-Pacific Championship that year.

Monte Carlo	3rd 10th	Sainz McRae	L555REP L555SRT
Portugal	4th DNF	Sainz McRae	L555STE L555BAT
Corsica (France)	2nd DNF	Sainz McRae	L555REP L555BAT
Acropolis (Greece)	1st EXC	Sainz McRae	L555REP L555BAT
Indonesia	2nd DNF	Bourne Burns
Argentina	2nd DNF	Sainz McRae	L555REP L555BAT
New Zealand	1st DNF DNF DNF	McRae Sainz Bourne Burns	L555BAT L555REP L555STE L555SRT
Malaysia	1st 2nd	Bourne Burns
1000 Lakes (Finland)	3rd	Sainz	L555REP
Australia	1st 4th	McRae Bourne
Sanremo	2nd 5th	Sainz McRae	L555REP L555BAT
Hong Kong-Peking	1st 2nd	Bourne Burns
Great Britain	1st DNF DNF	McRae Sainz Burns	L555BAT L555REP M555STE
Thailand	2nd	Burns

1995 - New for '95 were moulded slicks (17% tread pattern) to replace full-on slicks on the tarmac events. The turbo restrictor was also reduced in size from 38mm to 34mm to try to limit engine performance. Both of these changes were universally unpopular with the WRC drivers.

Optimization of the gear ratios, camshaft profiles, compression ratio, engine mapping and the introduction of anti-lag ensured the Impreza 555's raw speed over the stages was barely affected by these regulatory changes. The transmission was upgraded to be fully active with the addition of an electronically controlled front differential.

With Carlos Sainz and Colin McRae still the primary drivers, the mandatory 3rd team car (new championship regulation) was filled on a rotational basis by Piero Liatti, Richard Burns and Possum Bourne. After the disaster of all three cars retiring from the Swedish rally with identical oil pressure valve problems, the season picked up. Five outright victories on WRC events, including two Impreza podium lock-outs in Spain and GB, resulted in the Manufacturer's Title for Subaru and the Driver's Title for Colin McRae. McRae clinched the title on home soil at Rally GB in the November.

Monte Carlo	1st 8th DNF	Sainz Liatti McRae	L555REP M555STE L555BAT
Sweden	DNF DNF DNF	Sainz McRae Jonsson	L555REP L555BAT M555STE
Portugal	1st 3rd 7th	Sainz McRae Burns	L555REP L555BAT M555STE
Corsica (France)	4th 5th 6th	Sainz McRae Liatti	L555REP L555BAT M555STE
Indonesia	1st 7th	McRae Bourne
New Zealand	1st 7th DNF	McRae Bourne Burns	L555BAT M555STE L555REP
Malaysia	DNF DNF	McRae Bourne
Australia	2nd DNF DNF	McRae Sainz Bourne	L555BAT L555REP M555STE
Hong Kong-Peking	3rd 4th	Burns Bourne
Catalunya (Spain)	1st 2nd 3rd	Sainz McRae Liatti	L555REP L555BAT M555STE
Great Britain	1st 2nd 3rd	McRae Sainz Burns	L555BAT L555REP M555STE
Thailand	3rd 4th 5th	Burns Liatti Bourne

1996 - Development of the car in '96 was limited due to imminent major rule changes in '97 with the introduction of World Rally Cars. The new Impreza WRC was to be based on the 2-door 'Retna' shell and featured Peter Stevens developed wide arches and large rear wing. The drivetrain was pretty much pure Group A 555 carry over.

With Carlos Sainz departing for Ford, taking his Repsol sponsorship package with him, Kenneth Eriksson was recruited as a replacement. Richard Burns' move to Mistubishi for a full time drive meant Piero Liatti gained full time status as the 3rd driver in the Impreza 555.

Good results were posted once more with three WRC victories, all being scored by Colin McRae, and a couple more 1st in the AP Championship split between McRae and Eriksson. This was enough to secure a second Manufacturer's Title. McRae finished second in the Driver's Championship, behind Mistubishi's Tommi Makinen who won his first of four consecutive titles for the rival Japanese manufacturer. The era of the works Group A Impreza 555 ended on a high note however with a 1-2 in Catalunya for Colin McRae and Piero Liatti.

Sweden	3rd 5th 10th 12th	McRae Eriksson Auriol Liatti	N1WRC N555WRC N555BAT N555SRT
Thailand	1st 2nd 3rd	McRae Eriksson Liatti	N1WRC L555STE L555SRT
Safari (Kenya)	2nd 4th 5th	Eriksson McRae Liatti	N555WRC N1WRC M555STE
Indonesia	2nd DNF DNF	Liatti McRae Eriksson	L555SRT N1WRC N555WRC
Acropolis (Greece)	1st 4th 5th	McRae Liatti Eriksson	N1WRC N555SRT N555WRC
Malaysia	1st DNF	Eriksson Liatti	L555STE L555SRT
Argentina	3rd 7th DNF	Eriksson Liatti McRae	N555WRC N555BAT N1WRC
New Zealand	2nd 3rd	Eriksson Liatti	L555STE L555SRT
1000 Lakes (Finland)	5th DNF	Eriksson McRae	N555WRC N1WRC
Australia	2nd 4th 7th	Eriksson McRae Liatti	N555WRC N1WRC N555BAT
Sanremo	1st 5th DNF	McRae Eriksson Liatti	N1WRC N555WRC N555BAT
Hong Kong-Peking	DNF DNF	Eriksson Liatti
Catalunya (Spain)	1st 2nd 7th	McRae Liatti Eriksson	N1WRC N555BAT N555WRC

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