After walking around the service park at Rally NZ and looking at the major expense it takes to compete at this level, my burning question is where does all the money come from?
I’m not talking about the works teams, or the WRC privateers. I can see the Argentinean Ice Cream and Norweign electronic shop sponsorship here.

I’m talking about the drivers doing the PWRC, SWRC & JWRC (not that we have ever had the JWRC here in NZ).
Drivers like Toshi Arai, he’s been doing the PWRC for almost a decade, but carries very little sponsorship on his car. Where’s the finance coming from?
Then there is Nasser Al-Attiyah, he is doing something like 22 rallies this year.

With only limited TV coverage of the minor championships, I can’t imagine any sponsor coughing up with the millions it takes to do this.

Speaking to a team manager of one of the top NZ championship cars a few years ago, he told me it takes about NZ$120,000 (60,000 Euro) to do the six round NZ championship. That’s to pay for transport, accommodation for unpaid crew and drivers, meals, fuel, tyres and entry fees. That’s just the running cost, the car is on top of that, more if you crash.

Flying cars and parts in containers around the globe, having paid crew staying in hotels, paying your co-driver, buying or leasing top cars all adds up.

Where is all this cash coming from? Self made millionaires, rich Daddys, government funding???

Pons, Prokop, Toshi, Nasser, Sandell, Sousa, Brynildsen, Araujo, Grondal, Flodin, Linari etc.

Show me the money!

Please note: Pessimists need not reply to this thread.