Subaru Motorsports USA sets out to develop their first new clean-sheet rally car in over 8 years. In this 6-part series, Next Stage takes you behind closed doors as Vermont SportsCar and Subaru of America Inc. put everything they've learned into the new WRX rally car. Join the team for a journey spanning more than a year, from initial design meetings all the way through testing and debut competition. The team must navigate an evolving rally rulebook, changing competitors, supply chain issues, and the technical challenges of developing a new car from scratch. Reigning ARA Champion, Brandon Semenuk, also steps into a new role, shouldering the responsibility as development driver. It's an all-consuming task and everyone's focus is on one result - to continue the legacy of rally-winning Subarus.

Just as fabrication begins on the new WRX rally car chassis, Brandon Semenuk's 2022 car suffers extensive damage at the STPR Rally. The team must press pause on fabrication progress while all efforts are focused on getting Semenuk's car rebuilt in time for the nail-biting 2022 ARA championship finale.

Subaru Motorsports USA and Brandon Semenuk begin the 2023 season at Sno*Drift Rally, while the team back at Vermont SportsCar is racing to get the new WRX completed. Despite supply chain and regulatory uncertainty, fabrication is completed. After a final dry build check, the new car emerges from the paint shop ready for the final details to fall into place. Excitement builds as the WRX is ready to fire up and head out for its first shakedown.

The new WRX rally car hits the ground running as Subaru Motorsports USA shifts into the testing phase of development. After a short tarmac shakedown, the team heads to Ohio for the car's first taste of gravel, and Brandon Semenuk's initial look at the car. With a new car built from the ground up, the team inevitably runs into its first mechanical failure and has to find a solution hundreds of miles away from the Vermont SportsCar shop.

Brandon Semenuk and the Subaru Motorsports USA team get down to business, with multiple rally tests in different locations to fine tune the new WRX rally car. From the technical and jump filled roads of Quebec to the fast and flowing Kentucky gravel, the team puts extensive miles on the car to develop the setup and pinpoint any lurking weaknesses. As its competition debut approaches, the iconic blue and yellow livery is applied and the WRX is revealed to the public for the first time at Boxerfest.

After an intense 18 months of design, build, and testing, the brand new 2023 Subaru WRX rally car makes its competition debut at the Ojibwe Forests Rally in Minnesota. With Brandon Semenuk and Keaton Williams already crowned as ARA Champions for the second time, the Subaru Motorsports USA team is focused on proving the new car under the harsh conditions of competition.

With the championship locked up, Brandon Semenuk and Keaton Williams aim to make it a perfect season at the 2023 Lake Superior Performance Rally. With the new rally car still in development, the muddy conditions in Michigan pose a new challenge for the team as they try to dial in the setup.