Subaru’s Impreza STI has finished the 24H at the Nurburgring race, finishing 33rd overall and 5th in class. Here is the hour-by-hour recap from Subaru’s website!

5/23 17:00 The Nurburgring 24 Hour Race gets underway on the 23rd at 4:00 in the afternoon. Competing in the SPT3 class, the SUBARU Impreza STI has Kazuo Shimizu as starting driver, who after 1 hour 10 minutes’ racing, makes his pit stop. The car is handed over to Toshihiro Yoshida. At this point, the machine sits in 66th place overall, 7th in class.

5/23 18:00 At the first pit stop, Kazuo Shimizu gets out of the car, reporting that, ‘Besides the oil temperature being a little high, there’s nothing abnormal with the car.’ At the two-hour mark, the car has completed 12 laps of the circuit and sits 65th overall, sixth in class.

5/23 19:00 After three hours’ running, the Impreza is up to 63rd, seventh in class. At this point, there’s a driver switch to Naoki Hattori from Yoshida, who comments: ‘Along the back straight there’s only one racing line because of oil spread on the track. However, the Impreza’s running beautifully.’

5/23 20:00 After four hours, the Impreza sits 51st overall, fifth in class. Shortly after, Hattori returns to the pits, ‘Last year, my first stint was at night, bu this time I got to run in daylight, and that’s a relief. The car was easy to drive, I enjoyed it.’ At this time, there was a short time loss due to re-attaching an induction pipe that had come off.

5/23 21:00 9:00pm. With Kouji Matsuda in the car, the Impreza was 53rd overall, sixth in class and running smoothly. At this point, night finally begins to fall. It also begins to get cooler.

5/23 22:00 One quarter of the race has been completed. Each of the drivers has had one stint in the car, and after 33 laps, the wheel is handed from Matsuda to Shimizu. It’s now completely dark, and Matsuda made the following comment: ‘It’s good for it to steadily get darker, but without doubt, the Nurburgring is a handful at night.’ The car was 51st overall, 7th in class.

5/23 23:00 11:00pm. Shimizu maintains a steady pace in the 10-minute, 5-second bracket. From the night  sky, light rain began to fall. The Impreza has completed 40 laps, and sits 41st overall, fifth in class.

5/24 00:00 Trouble causes a 24-minute time loss, the car dropping to 69th overall and 8th in class. On the last lap of Shimizu’s stint, another car, pushing from behind, made contact, causing him to spin and the left side of the car to touch the guardrail. After repairs to the rear suspension arm, Yoshida took the wheel.

5/24 01:00 Nine hours completed. With Yoshida driving, the car has done 48 laps and is now in 65th overall, eighth in class. After repairs to the rear suspension, the car continues without incident. Headlights from each of the machines bathe the track in light as their exhaust notes resound throughout the pitch-black forest.

5/24 02:00 10-hour mark: The Impreza circulates with Hattori driving. Fifty four laps have been completed, the car sits 66th overall and 8th in class. The photograph shows the Impreza taking on oil with a nozzle like at a gas station.

5/24 03:00 Eleven hours complete. The Impreza has run 59 laps, sits 62nd overall and 8th in class. The car is handed from Hattori over to Matsuda, ‘At night, the tight corners are simply not visible, making it very scary. Because of this, this is my last nighttime stint, and I’m relieved.’

5/24 04:00 04:00am: At last, the race has passed the halfway point. The Impreza has now completed 65 laps, running 56th overall and sixth in class. It seems as if the taillights and rear fog lights are intertwined in an innumerable string. Surely, the sky is about to bring the dawn.

5/24 05:00 At 05:00am, Matsuda pits to hand over to Shimizu. This is Shimizu’s third stint in the car. The eastern sky lightens, and gradually extends across the entire expanse. At 5am the car sits 54th overall, sixth in class.

5/24 06:00 06:00. Shimizu makes his pit stop and Yoshida gets in the car. The morning sun, rising from the direction of the back straight is dazzling. 77 laps have been completed, the car now in 48th overall and 6th in class. As the temperature steadily rises, it becomes more and more of a challenge for both machine and drivers.

5/24 07:00 At the 07:00 mark, sixteen hours have been completed. The Impreza has run a total of 85 laps, sits 45th overall and sixth in class. In the driver switch from Yoshida to Hattori, the brake units were replaced. The many spectators who had been sleeping in tents and RVs are getting up, and their excitement is returning to the circuit once again.

5/24 08:00 08:00am. The Temperature has already risen to nearly 20 degrees (C). With Hattori driving, the Impreza has now completed 93 laps of the circuit, sits 43rd overall and sixth in the SPT3 class. The number of on-track crashes seems to be increasing. It’s not possible to relax one’s guard.

5/24 09:00 At 09:00, the Impreza has completed 93 laps, sitting in 43rd overalland sixth in the SPT3 class. Though the damage received to the left of the body in the early stages of the race is miserable, there haven’t been an problems since the repairs.

5/24 10:00 10:00am marks 18 hours completed. The Impreza has completed 98 laps of the track, and sits 42nd overall, sixth in class. After this, the car moves up to fifth after one of the favourites in the SPT3 class crashes and retires. A fresh early summer breeze blows easily across the circuit. The race has another six hours to run.

5/24 11:00 At the 11:00am mark, the Impreza has completed 104 laps with Kouji Matsuda at the wheel, and sits 38th overall, fifth in class. Matsuda gave chase to a car that was one lap ahead,m setting his best time and showing a spirtited performance in the process. It’s my last stint so I didn’t want to overdo things, but still, I gave it my best,’ he said. Director Tatsumi also showed his satisfaction.

5/24 12:00 Four hours remain in the race. With little time remaining, distance is made up on rivals in the same class. The difference lap after lap is approximately 15 seconds. While maintaining a rapid pace, Kazuo Shimizu takes care of the car. His driving shows us a steadily decreasing gap. With 111 laps in the books, the Impreza sites 37th overall, 5th in class. The pit crew too are putting in a sublime effort.

5/24 13:00 The planned pit stop was to take place at the 20-hour, 44-minute mark, but the car returned to the pits one lap early. Driver Shimizu explains: ‘I saw some smoke coming from the rear of the car.’ It is determined that a prior accident has caused the muffler and bumper to come into contact, so after a quick fix, Yoshida takes thecar back out on track. 113 laps have been completed, the car sits in 37th overall, fifth in class.

5/24 14:00 2:00pm. There are just two hours remaining. At 2:15, Yoshida made his pit stop, entrusting the wheel to the final runner. Hattori. He chases after his rivals running ahead, making the most of any chance that might exist. The car has completed 113 laps, sits 34th overall, and 5th in class.

5/24 15:00 There’s just one hour before the race finishes. At the 3:00pm mark, the Impreza has completed 127 laps and lies in 35th place overall, fifth in class in the midst of its run. Hattori has been piling on the pressure, taking anywhere from 4-10 seconds out of those around him. 127laps have completed, the car sits 34th overall and fifth in class.

5/24 – 16:00 4:00pm, the 24-hour mark. The checkered flag falls and the 24-hour race challenge of the SUBARU Impreza STI at the Nurburgring has ended. With 133 laps completed, the car finished 33rd overall and fifth in the SPT3 class. For STI, organizing this endurance race team voluntarily and for the first time, having carried out the endeavor ‘with one mind,’ it can be said that the outcome was worth more than the result. Thank ou for rooting for us.

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