The final round of the 2009 Chinese Rally Championship kicked off in the picturesque Shaowu City in Fujian Province on the 18th-20th of December. SUBARU Rally Team China (SRTC) sent one GRB and one GDB SUBARU Impreza for this rally, driven by Australian Dean Herridge and Li Wei respectively.

The rally’s stages were located in the mountains of Shaowu City. The event consisted of 13 gravel special stages, covering an overall SS distance of 161.97km, while SS1, the Super Special Stage, was 2.70km.

Herridge, who was given the No.1 to start, battled throughout the opening Super Special stage with Finnish Champion Jari Ketomaa. The Australian started perfectly, running neck-and-neck with Ketomaa in the first section. However, in the early part of the second lap he cut one corner too deep, losing time and falling behind his Finnish rival by four seconds. Herridge finished the first day in fourth place.
On first day of proper competition, the following day, road conditions were much better than that of the previous round in Longyou, but it was still quite cold, foggy and icy in the early part of the morning.

Herridge pushed hard but was unable to catch the cars ahead - though he reported to be quite happy with his car. In the afternoon stages, Herridge encountered a diff. issue during the middle loop of the section. Despite the team mechanics changing the gearbox within the 20 minutes’ service time and improving the car’s performance and stability, Herridge was unable to catch his rivals. He maintained the position he earned at the finish of Day 1, while Ketomaa protected his lead. Li Wei, in the same situation as Herridge, was also not satisfied with his time. He eventually finished Day 1 sixth among the Chinese drivers.

Herridge started the final day behind Ketomaa, Higgins and Valimaki, intending to catch up with the top runners. But after trying for two stages without effect, he only managed to maintain his pace and keep his position to the end. Ketomaa took victory in the final round of the series. Li Wei performed well and managed to move to 4th place among the Chinese drivers. However a puncture on SS11 caused him to lose about 4 minutes. With the result, he returned to 5th place, a position he would keep to the end.

The final result in the Team Points list showed SRTC cementing 5th place with a total of 36 points for the 2009 season. Li Wei ended the season in 3rd place among the Chinese drivers.