The Subaru WRX STI Is Still Winning Rally Championships

As it turns out, Subaru can still win a rally race. Despite thedeath of the WRX STI, Subaru has proved it's not done with the platform yet.

With road-going Subaru performance cars now limited to just the斯巴鲁WRXand the BRZ, the STI name is gone for now. Despite that, it still carries some weight in the motorsports community, with Subaru winning the 2022 American Rally Association (ARA) championship.

On top of that, Subaru teammates Brandon Semenuk and co-driver Keaton Williams beat outHoonigan's Ken Blockand co-driver Alex Gelsomino for the win. It is Subaru's sixteenth driver's championship under Subaru Motorsports USA. "I'm just speechless right now, can't believe we got the championship!" said Semenuk after the final stage.

For the ARA, this was itsAbu Dhabi 2021. The all-out title fight came down to a single, final event between established rally legend Ken Block (read: Lewis Hamilton) and relative newcomer Semenuk (read: Max Verstappen). With teammate Travis Pastrana out due to a pelvic fracture, Block strung together four wins in a row- a streak Semenuk broke at the New England Forest Rally.

Semenuk also took early wins at the 100 Acre Wood and Olympus rallies, but the championship came down to a final race at Lake Superior. Block entered the rally with three stage wins and a ten-second lead, but the Hoonigans crashed out on Stage 7 as snow fell for the second time that weekend, leaving Subaru in the lead and Pastrana just behind. In the end, it was a 1-2 finish for Subaru.