Scott Speed is confident his move to Subaru Rally Team USA will give him continued success in Americas Rallycross.
Speed has won four straight US rallycross titles with Andretti Autosport, whereas Subaru hasn’t won an event since 2014, but the American is confident he can continue to be a front runner despite Subaru’s lack of results in the wake of Volkswagen’s recent dominance.
“I’m excited for the challenge more than anything,” Speed told The Checkered Flag. “It’s going to be a challenge and I think that’s what I’m most excited about.”
“To be honest with you it’s more taking a leap of faith than anything,” he added. “It’s going to be going through the same process and the same growing pains as what happened when we first joined with Volkswagen and Andretti and you just have to figure it out when you get there. I would not have made the move if I didn’t think I can win.”
Credit: ARX Rallycross
Since the end of 2014 Speed had driven the Volkswagen Beetle specifically developed for competition in the United States. The car is one of the most successful cars in rallycross history – winning 26 races out of 46 across Global Rallycross, X Games, ARX, and Nitro Rallycross – and while Speed thinks his knowledge of the car will give him something of an advantage when racing against it next year, he isn’t pinning all of his hopes on that.
“No question, it has to, right? I know the car intimately, but in the same breath, I’ve always said I don’t focus on the other cars, I never have,” said Speed. “I somewhat know the advantages and disadvantages of each car but the aim of the game is focussing on your project and that is a mindset that I will carry on and implement funny.”
“I’m going to do my job, we’re going to make our car the best it can be and that will be where all the focus is,” he added.
The announcement of Speed’s move to Subaru comes at the end of the inaugural ARX season, and Speed thinks that the new series has shown that rallycross in the United States can have a good future.
“I definitely do think the future is very bright, I’m very encouraged by that,” he said. “I think that it’s definitely on a good path and that’s very exciting for everyone.”
