STI NBR CHALLENGE

SUBARU/STI competed in the 54th Nürburgring 24-Hour Race, held at Germany's Nürburgring circuit from May 16 to 17, 2026, with the WRX S4-based “SUBARU WRX NBR CHALLENGE 2026” (No. 88).

Driver Takuto Iguchi set a record-breaking 8:43.021 lap at the Nürburgring 24h Qualifiers held from April 17 to 19, marking the fastest lap in the history of STI's Nürburgring challenge.

Building on this strong result and demonstrating the capabilities of the 2026-spec SUBARU WRX, the team headed into the main race aiming for their first SP4T class victory since 2024.

The race started at 15:00 on May 16 with Carlo van Dam behind the wheel. Starting from second place in the SP4T class, the SUBARU WRX immediately engaged in a fierce battle with the class-leading No. 50 car. Increasing its pace lap by lap, the SUBARU WRX closed in by lap 7. When the No. 50 car made a pit stop on lap 8, the SUBARU WRX moved into the lead and took control of the race, holding the lead thereafter.

However, conditions at the Nürburgring were particularly demanding this year. Low ambient temperatures and track temperatures that struggled to rise, combined with intermittent rain that left the circuit wet in places, created challenging conditions. Frequent incidents across the track resulted in repeated speed-restricted zones at 60 km/h and 120 km/h, preventing the overall pace from stabilizing.

Despite these difficult conditions, the SUBARU WRX and its four drivers—Carlo van Dam, Kota Sasaki, Takuto Iguchi, and Rintaro Kubo—completed disciplined eight- to nine-lap stints in rotation, steadily working their way through the field. Competing against higher-class machines, the team continued to gain positions, climbing to 49th overall after four hours and 42nd by 23:00, eight hours into the race. Even amid the turbulent conditions, they maintained a strong pace, continuing to move up the order.

Shortly after 3:00 a.m., halfway through the race, the team made a scheduled pit stop for routine maintenance. During the stop, a dealership technician discovered grease leakage from the left rear driveshaft boot, which had been damaged by debris from another car's accident.

The team immediately took action, replacing the driveshaft assembly. At the same time, the front brake replacement originally planned for a later stop was also carried out, minimizing time loss. Thanks to the swift and precise work of the dealership technicians, the repairs were completed in just 35 minutes, allowing the SUBARU WRX to rejoin the race in perfect condition.

After resuming the race, the SUBARU WRX continued to lap consistently without losing pace, gradually gaining positions. Even in the final stages of the demanding 24-hour race, the team maintained its rhythm and pushed on toward victory.

After 24 hours of racing, shortly after 15:00 on Sunday, the No. 88 SUBARU WRX NBR CHALLENGE 2026 crossed the finish line. The car finished 31st overall and secured victory in the SP4T class, with the final result later confirmed as 30th overall following a post-race review. Completing 139 laps and approximately 3,527.5 km, the team delivered an impressive and well-earned result.

Comments :
Masuo Takatsu, Team Director
“Racing at the Nürburgring is like driving at high speed on public roads. Competing in such an extreme environment not only contributes to further improving technologies that feed back into production vehicles, but also enables us to deliver more attractive products to our customers in a timely manner.
Personally, I have always regarded racing as a sport where machines and people work together and compete, but this year, with constantly changing weather conditions, the race truly felt like a battle against nature. Under these circumstances, we were able to once again confirm the superiority, safety, and performance of the SUBARU BOXER engine combined with Symmetrical AWD.”

Takuya Sawada, Team Manager
“It was unfortunate that we were unable to fully capitalize on our time attack opportunities during qualifying due to unstable track conditions. However, in the race, we were able to maintain consistent performance under difficult conditions using slick and cut-slick tires. We also minimized the number of pit stops and executed our race strategy largely according to plan.”