
Image Copyright: © Yrjö Palotie
Subaru Sport
Creating a New Competition
Using Formula Vee as a Blueprint
The Subaru Sport series was an idea developed in the late 1980’s by Yrjö Palotie and Keke Rosberg, both key members of the 500-Kerho racing club. They were concerned that the pathway for Finnish drivers racing in their homeland was too expensive and disorganised. Crucially they believed that these factors were damaging the next generations progression into elite European motorsport.
Together they wanted to create a Finnish championship that operated in a similar way to how the Formula Vee format had in the 1970’s. The Finnish national series had helped elevate Keke from karting up the ladder into European Super Vee, Formula 2 and ultimately F1. Finland did have its own national Formula Ford competition at this time, but it wasn’t able to attract the numbers required to make it a competitive championship.
With Mika Häkkinen having recently moved up to the British Formula Vauxhall Lotus series, Palotie’s and Rosberg’s first thought was to develop a Finnish version. The comparisons to Formula Vee were strong with General Motors also running a European GM Lotus championship similar to how VW had supported national Formula Vee with European Super Vee. With the approval of both 500-Kerho and Finnish General Motors, initial plans were drawn up during 1988. These included proposals regarding rules, the financial structure of the championship and circuits to be used. The AKK (Finland's motorsport sanctioning body) were contacted for their support and were largely positive about this new race series. Unfortunately discussions with General Motors stalled and the project fell through.
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A New Direction with Two Seats
With all the time and effort spent on the structure of this new championship neither Palotie or Rosberg wanted to give up on the idea. They were keen to get a minimum of 16 new racing cars into the national Finnish motor racing scene and to help enthusiastic young drivers progress into international competitions. So in January 1989 they submitted new plans to the AKK for a two-seated covered formula. The reason for changing away from the initial single seater concept was that two-seated cars allowed for stakeholders to be given demonstrations laps in the vehicles, helping to sell the championship to sponsors. These new plans were approved by the AKK for further development and the new series began to take shape.

Image Source:
anonymous, VAN DIEMEN GRUPPE-C SPIDER 1992 vr EMS, CC BY-SA 3.0
Van Diemen and Subaru
The basis of this new two-seated championship would be the Van Diemen Multisport chassis. The car was popular in the UK racing scene where it was often fitted with a Ford 1.6 litre engine. This new series would instead use Subaru engines and gearboxes. This decision for this was made partly due to Keke’s existing marketing agreement with Subaru importer Aro-Yhtymä Oy, but also because using a Subaru engine had performance benefits. Taken from the Subaru Legacy the 2.2-litre engine was more powerful than the ubiquitous Ford and being a boxer engine had a lower centre of gravity. The two-wheeled-drive gearbox from the Subaru Legacy was also utilised.
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A prototype was displayed at the AUTO-89 exhibition in the spring of 1989 with the car and series officially named SubaruSport. At the same time the AKK approved the championship and appointed a working group to liaise with Palotie and Rosberg so the series could begin in 1990.

Image:
Keke Rosberg German Subaru print advert
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An order was placed for 16 cars through Aro-Yhtymä for arrival in 1990. Van Diemen then began development at their Snetterton base (Norfolk, UK), grafting the Subaru drivetrain into their existing Multisport model. The first tests of the new car were carried out by Palotie and Rosberg at the Snetterton track on October 16th 1989.
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Finances, Points and Prizes
Ensuring affordability was crucial to the success of this new competition for young drivers. Van Diemen priced their cars at FIM 90,000 per chassis, with an entry cost of FIM 59,500 for each competitor. The Subaru division of Aro-Yhtymä provided engines, gearboxes, and prize money at no extra charge. The championship's basic funding came from sponsorship through cooperation agreements spanning from 1990 to 1992. Aro-Yhtymä, along with prominent Finnish brands such as Union, Tapiola, Neste, Olivetti, and Iltalehti, were series sponsors. While the cars featured the logos of the six series sponsors, ample advertising space was left for drivers and teams to secure additional sponsorships.
The total prize money pool for the series was a substantial FIM 258,700 per season. Winners of each race would earn FIM 8,000 (refer to the table for full positional payments per race), and the first, second, and third in the championship would receive an extra FIM 30,000, FIM 15,000, and FIM 10,000, respectively. If the series champion won every race in a season, they could potentially claim a prize fund of FIM 86,000.
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Technical Rules
The technical rules were remarkably straightforward, with a strict prohibition on altering the layout or aerodynamics of the cars. Each engine was sealed to prevent any modifications by teams or drivers. This approach aimed to run the championship as cost-effectively as possible while ensuring a fair and level playing field for all drivers.
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Lift Off - 1990 Season
Getting it Off the Ground
On December 6, 1948, Keijo Erik Rosberg was born in Solna, Stockholm County, Sweden. Nicknamed Keke (easier to pronounce), he and his parents moved back to their native Finland early in his life, and he took Finnish nationality. His early career in motorsport was a departure for a Finnish motorsport driver of the time, choosing with success to go circuit racing in Formula Vee, Formula Atlantic, Formula Pacific, Can Am and the F1 feeder series Formula 2.
Keke’s first drive in F1 was with the Theodore team in 1978, immediately making a name for himself winning the non-Championship BRDC International Trophy at Silverstone. In very wet conditions he beat some of the biggest and most established names from F1, only his 2nd race. After this early success he had a series of bad seasons with uncompetitive teams, the pointless ‘81 season particularly bad. Despite this he impressed the Williams team, and with a seat spare in 1982 after Alan Jones’ sudden retirement, Keke finally had a competitive drive. He took full advantage of it, winning his first grand prix at Dijon, and taking the 1982 F1 World Championship.
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Calendar - 1990 Season
Race & Championship Standings - 1990 Season
Establishing - 1991 & 1992 Season
Improving and Evolving
On December 6, 1948, Keijo Erik Rosberg was born in Solna, Stockholm County, Sweden. Nicknamed Keke (easier to pronounce), he and his parents moved back to their native Finland early in his life, and he took Finnish nationality. His early career in motorsport was a departure for a Finnish motorsport driver of the time, choosing with success to go circuit racing in Formula Vee, Formula Atlantic, Formula Pacific, Can Am and the F1 feeder series Formula 2.
Keke’s first drive in F1 was with the Theodore team in 1978, immediately making a name for himself winning the non-Championship BRDC International Trophy at Silverstone. In very wet conditions he beat some of the biggest and most established names from F1, only his 2nd race. After this early success he had a series of bad seasons with uncompetitive teams, the pointless ‘81 season particularly bad. Despite this he impressed the Williams team, and with a seat spare in 1982 after Alan Jones’ sudden retirement, Keke finally had a competitive drive. He took full advantage of it, winning his first grand prix at Dijon, and taking the 1982 F1 World Championship.
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Championship Table - 1991 Season
Championship Table - 1992 Season
Failures, Endings and Legacies
Year Four - Dwindling Numbers
The series did attempt to carry on with a fourth season in 1993 but crucially this would be without Palotie and Rosberg who had only agreed to manage the championship for an initial 3 year period. The end of the 1992 season had also marked the conclusion of the original three year sponsorship agreements and without these vital funds the health of the series declined rapidly. There would be two occasions in the opening rounds of 1993 in which only six cars would race, one of these being the 6th June race held at Ahventiso. Five of the six drivers present at that round had raced in the series previously with Pasi Andersin joining the returnees of Olli Haapalainen, Markku Tähkäpää, Jarmo Hakala, Tony Svensson and Heikki Hyöki. The 1990 and 1992 champion Olli Haapalainen would ultimately win the eight lap Ahvenisto race with Markku Tähkäpää finishing second.
However the future of Subaru Sport racing was already looking grim enough for Vauhdin Maailma (Finnish motor racing magazine) to beg for more drivers to take part in their reporting of the Ahventiso event.
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“Where are the Subarus?
The Subaru Sport class, which last year had roughly twenty cars in all races, is unfortunately now on the wane. For the second time, only six cars were on the track…
Wake up other Subaru drivers, we need you!”
Vauhdin Maailma July 1993 issue (translated from Finnish)
It is unclear if there were any further races in 1993 or even if there was a completed championship. What is clear is that the series did not return in 1994.

Momentum Grinds to a Halt
So why did the championship not survive beyond 1993? In his own (translated) words Ykä Palotie outlines some of the causes from his perspective:
“But what went wrong with our concept? Everything was ready and yet when the three-year contract period with the series sponsors ended, the series broke up. Keke and I were committed to managing the series for the three years in question and we trusted that it would run under its own weight or that someone else would take over the reins. That didn't happen. Some cars moved on our tracks, but we never got all 16 cars to the line again.”
KEKE WAS BECOMING VERY BUSY:
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What Happened to the Drivers and the Cars?
On December 6, 1948, Keijo Erik Rosberg was born in Solna, Stockholm County, Sweden. Nicknamed Keke (easier to pronounce), he and his parents moved back to their native Finland early in his life, and he took Finnish nationality. His early career in motorsport was a departure for a Finnish motorsport driver of the time, choosing with success to go circuit racing. Keke’s first drive in F1 was with the Theodore team in 1978, immediately making a name for himself winning the non-Championship BRDC International Trophy at Silverstone. In very wet conditions he beat some of the biggest and most established names from F1, only his 2nd race.
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Legacy and Conclusions
The founding goal of Subaru Sport, which was to help promote young Finnish racing drivers into international single-seater racing was unfortunately not achieved. The series was unable to find and nurture talented drivers that could compete in the top divisions of motorsport. This is still an issue that Finnish motorsport finds itself grappling with today. Since 1994 there have only been three Finnish drivers to have made it to Formula 1 in the following three decades. Although the three that did make have all been successful with Kimi Räikkönen, Valtteri Bottas and Heikki Kovalainen all race winners (and the former an F1 champion), they all still needed to leave Finland early in their careers to reach these heights. Worse still is that there isn’t a new generation of drivers to succeed them.
Objectively speaking the Subaru Sport project must be considered a short-term success but a long-term failure. Despite managing to get a fleet of new cars into Finland and running three competitive seasons of racing, there wasn’t the surge in driving talent that the founders had hoped for. Ultimately Yrjö Palotie and Keke Rosberg were both brave to have attempted something so difficult and in the end is it not better to have tried and failed than not to have tried at all.
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Video:
YouTube footage of a Subaru Sport completing laps of Ahvenisto (2012)