We took on an arduous race with all preparations in place, having entrusted vehicle transportation to a reliable service that takes care of every detail down to the last millimeter.

Subaru Tecnica International (STI) is a subsidiary set up as a specialist motorsports division to demonstrate the performance of Subaru vehicles. The focus in recent years has been on enhancing the attractiveness of Subaru vehicles by incorporating technical expertise acquired from participation in the Nürburgring 24 Hours race and Super GT Series across all areas of the business, including work on custom vehicles, after-market parts, and engineering services.

As team manager for STI at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, my work has primarily involved managing race operations, developing strategy, and coordinating the different groups within the team. STI has participated in the Nürburgring 24 Hours since 2008. This 24-hour endurance race is recognized as the most grueling in the world. With numerous crashes, only about 70% of the field finish the race. STI competes through all 24 hours of the race with a four-driver rotation made up of two Japanese and two foreign drivers. Also vital to the race are the engineers and mechanics who look after the vehicle and ensure that it can compete in peak condition. Given the demanding nature of the racetrack and the heavy load on the vehicle, the engineering team must grapple with these difficulties as they take on the challenges of the race.

The competition to become a mechanic is especially tough, with a team of eight being chosen each year from Subaru dealers around Japan. The race car also carries the name of the sales company to which the mechanics belong. As the mechanics lose their eligibility to participate in subsequent qualifying trials once they join the team, they are under a lot of pressure in what you might call “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity from which there is no retiring early”.

The first time STI used J SOLUTIONS WHEEL was in 2018. This is a JALCARGO vehicle transportation service that uses passenger aircraft. What led us to consider the service was being told about it by Subaru's public relations division in connection with the company’s involvement in manufacturing the center wing boxes for Boeing 787s. The two deciding factors that ultimately saw us go ahead with using the service were that vehicles could travel in passenger aircraft without requiring a wooden crate and that the freight cost was lower than charged by overseas airlines.

As racing cars tend to be wider than ordinary cars, we were still worried whether the vehicle could fit even after we had provided dimensions data. As the JAL representative had the same concern, they arranged for a J SOLUTIONS WHEEL vehicle container to be brought to the Fuji Speedway so that we could conduct checks beforehand, which was very helpful.

The second time we used J SOLUTIONS WHEEL was in 2023. The SUBARU WRX NBR CHALLENGE 2023 used the FA24 engine in place of the previous EJ20 and the body was also completely revamped. Wanting a faster delivery time to extend the time available for development, we decided to ship the vehicle by air.

To load the low-profile racing car using the J SOLUTIONS WHEEL platform (vehicle carrier), we adjusted the vehicle height and removed the rear wing for stowing. As the car was nearly too wide to fit on the platform, six staff worked together to carefully load the vehicle with millimeter precision.

Many of those involved in the STI team at Nürburgring 24 Hours were impressed by the ease of using J SOLUTIONS WHEEL and the sense of reassurance it provides, with engineers telling me how they hoped to use the service again given how much time is needed for vehicle upgrades and improvements. Using J SOLUTIONS WHEEL gave us more time for extensive track testing in Japan as well as for development. This meant we could go to the race confident of being able to last the full 24 hours. While cost is an issue, the sense of reassurance that the service provides means I hope we can use it again in the future.