Printable View
If they'd actually race, then it might be different. Exposure can bring surprising results.Quote:
Originally Posted by MrJan
AndyRAC, the only ones who understand the situation are people in the BMW Motorsport and Prodrive, the rest are only speculating.
Yes it's speculation, but no doubt BMW have done the research and worked out the figures on what benefits their motorsport programme will have. There will be a whole industry dedicated to working out how things are affected. There is no way that BMW would pull the plug on a successful operation without some serious consideration and analysis. Yes, it sucks, but there are clearly better places to spend your money than the WRC at the minute.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rallyper
But if they did research, why did they cooperate with PD in the first place, having full up with DTM as well?
I don't know about other countries but in Portugal women buy more Minis than men do. And as a general rule we can say that women are not that much interested on motorsports. This could be one of the reasons why BMW is not that much interested in spending money with the Mini WRC program.Quote:
Originally Posted by MrJan
On the other hand the WRC program could be a way for Mini to sell more cars to men.
Who knows? Perhaps the results of the program didn't match what they were expecting? Perhaps the budget was lowered (seems possible). Obviously they didn't enter into the Prodrive deal without looking at it from a number of angles (it is a lot of money) and I dare say that they didn't just withdraw without a lot of thought and analysis...especially given the 'out of the box' pace of the car.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rallyper
Edit: I suspect that they were also expecting to secure a few more sponsors after the first few rallies....and of course they didn't expect North One to go to the wall and leave the WRC without a promoter.
To my mind the question isn't "why did x team leave", it's more a case of "why are Ford and Citroen still here"? The WRC is in a very weak position at the minute.
do we know production numbers for mini and bmw? maybe this explains a lot....
another point can be if bmw is going to keep mini for years...
food for thought.
Maybe WRC should start from square one again, meaning.... back to the 70´s or so...
in what way ??Quote:
Originally Posted by Rallyper
Probably this;Quote:
Originally Posted by Rallyper
Franky is correct. It is all just speculation, guesswork. But this is the most plausible.Quote:
Originally Posted by "JAM
What we don't, and may never, know is exactly how ambitious the sponsorship targets were that Prodrive hoped to hit. Prodrive's leadership is far from stupid — yes, the Subaru WRC team wasn't at its best towards the end, and yes, the Aston Le Mans effort turned into an embarrassment, but this is not a company that's naive about what's needed to win in motorsport or that's lost its way. The pace of the Mini straight out of the box proved that. It's often said that there is a degree of delusion from those deeply involved in the WRC as to its current level of strength. Was Prodrive expecting too much in the way of commercial backing for its WRC effort?Quote:
Originally Posted by MrJan
The same could have been said of Vauxhall in British Touring Car racing circa 2001. It could be argued, I suppose, that it enables a manufacturer to have an easier chance of winning something and gaining publicity for that success if two manufacturers are involved rather than, say, 10. On the one hand, if there is publicity to be had as a result, who in the general public is to know the success was achieved against little opposition, given the championship's relatively low profile? On the other, I'm unsure now how much car manufacturers directly use motorsport success for general publicity, as they used to do. It may pass a lot of people by, especially in a championship with as little profile and mainstream media coverage as the WRC now enjoys.Quote:
Originally Posted by MrJan