Interesting points there Simmi. Many of you won't know what my company (www.lightninghouse.co.uk) does , but if I may I'll give an insight.
On the Mid Wales we came away having got a fairly sizeable piece in The Telegraph by virtue of the driver we brought in. That doesn't always sit well with die hard enthusiasts but it engaged the wider public far more than many events in recent years.
I would hasten to add that was all privately funded and not by event / championship....on a wider scale we're at an advanced stage to bring an event right into the heart of a large UK city, again this will be funded from outside the sport.
Therein lies the challenge, whilst events/championships need that promotion they in themselves physically don't have the money... What we're doing this year privately will start to break down some of those barriers but certainly many events (not specifically this one) need to be thinking more of how they can promote ....everything costs though .