In the space of 48 hours, that’s two factory entries gone from WRC. Suzuki I can understand; GM just cashed out their stake in the company, and Suzuki needs to close the barn doors before the other horses bolt. It’s not like they were getting much good press from their involvement anyhow.
But Subaru? Effing SUBARU?! This is their ONE SPORT. Rally=Subaru. Subaru=Rally. Their WRC presence is their DEFINING TRAIT. This is the equivalent of Nike no longer endorsing athletes to wear their shoes; without it, they’re just another brand of particularly quirky cars.
Un-be-lievable.
Well, I’d wager that Prodrive-to-F1 deal is pretty much just a matter of squeezing a bit more support out of Honda at this point. And at least there’ll be privateer Imprezas next year.
This is where the Mosley FIA (admittedly it’s not just the one organization, but they do have a leadership role… plus I like picking on that rotten Nazi spawn) is just such an abysmal failure: they’ve built these series up to the point where only manufacturers can play. And manufacturers are fickle, and there are only so many of them. Finding sponsors in Indycar year-to-year may be a massive headache, but you haven’t seen the top entries jumping ship left and right with this economic meltdown, have you?
Racing IS NOT a business, inasmuch as businesses are about maximizing profit. If you want to do that, it’s the wrong sector to be in. No, it’s about making a hobby financially sustainable. Realize that and we’ll all have a lot more fun.
…
Of course, Max WON’T realize that and will reduce the WRC to an S2000-class joke where it’s still a manufacturer ballgame, just somewhat cheaper, and not interesting to anyone. But that’s another rant.
