600HP Subaru Crosstrek Rally Car Is In China To Do Battle; Who’s Driving?

Chris Atkinson, SRTUSA Global Rallycross driver will be going back to his rally roots and driving the new Subaru Crosstrek rally car in China. Atkinson tweeted yesterday, “Racing this week for Subaru Team China, driving the XV- Crosstrek CRC rally car built by Vermont SportsCar.” Atkinson, who drove for Subaru’s World Rally Team between 2005 and 2008, came over to the GRC WRX STI Supercars last season.

Now he’s driving the fastest Subaru Crosstrek in the world with 600hp under the hood. It was developed by Vermont SportsCar who builds the rallycars and Global Rallycross WRX STI machines for Subaru here in the US. Subaru now has a rally team in China, and Chris Atkinson will get a chance behind the wheel of a rally car again in the newest Crosstrek performance crossover.

Last year, David Higgins and Craig Drew flew overseas to join Subaru Rally Team China at Dengfeng Rally. They got to show the Chinese team how to drive a Crosstrek rallycar because rules won’t allow them to run a WRX STI because the car is not sold in China. Up until now, China ran a N spec rally car that was basically a stock version with some modifications for rallying.

It’s Atkinson’s first time behind the wheel of a 600hp rally machine. It was quite a bit different in 2008 when he was with Subaru’s World Rally Team. This isn’t the first Crosstrek rally car for Subaru. Brandon Semenuk, traded in his Subaru WRX STI for a Subaru Rally Crosstrek last season, and runs it in the Canadian Rally Championship (CRC). He finished with a third place podium finish at Quebec's Rallye Defi last weekend.

Subaru Rally Team China has been a partner with Subaru going into its second season. Chris Atkinson gets a trip to China to drive the new Subaru Crosstrek rally car before SRTUSA heads to Red Bull Global Rallycross in LA, October 13-14.

Photo credit: Chris Atkinson @ChrisAtko