by Rob Wilkins
Subaru's rally operations director, Paul Howarth has revealed that several outfits are in contention to run a Manufacturer 2 team with the Impreza WRC car in 2007.
Ford took the plunge this year - and have done so, under the
Stobart VK banner, while rumours also suggest that
Citroen may do the same as well next season when they return to the sport in an official capacity with the C4, with Kronos tipped to continue using the Xsara. Although nothing has been confirmed by Citroen or Subaru as yet, Howarth told
Crash.net Radio that they are doing all they can to ensure they have 'B' team next year.
"We are looking at it - having a M2 squad - through several teams and if they are taking cars from us and services, then it is good to have as many teams out there as possible," he noted. "You may remember here at Prodrive we operated the All-Stars team and we were the real front runners in the customer team, 'B' team set-up idea, a long time ago. The problem with it now is there is only so much financial support available for the manufacturer teams as well as the 'B' teams.
"So you have got to have a very consistent and effective car, which is totally reliable and can deliver good results for a 'B' team and can be cost effective. These teams are looking in detail at it and we are helping them as much as we can. The more Subaru's that are out there the better it is for the championship as well - the more cars competing, it just develops it, so we are working with them. Market forces will decide how many cars you see in the championship though and how many 'B' teams there are."
