Further signs of decay within the WRC have been revealed by Prodrive executives in an interview on The Rally Show by iRally.
No surprise the root of the problems boil down to the lack of television coverage for the world’s premier rally category, as Dave Richards explained.
“We stopped looking for sponsors two months ago. It’s simply impossible at the moment. Even if you do find a sponsor and he is happy with your programme he will eventually ask about the TV coverage, media presence, audience figures and we just don’t have these kind of answers at the momentâ€, said Richards.
You’ll recall the official Prodrive–MINI partnership came to an abrupt end earlier this year, even though Prodrive still prepares the cars for the official factory entries, as well as their own team. Money, or the lack of it, was the reason back then and nothing much has changed in the subsequent months.
The current malaise the WRC finds itself in is quite disheartening. We don’t proclaim to fully understand all the reasons, or to be experts on how to put things right. We just know the WRC is made for TV—North One Sport, generally speaking, did a first class job—and the sooner some serious income can be generated by the sale of broadcast rights the better the sport will be.
[Source: World Rally Blog]