Paying Drivers

[RAS007]

Genuine question: when did the scourge of paying drivers really begin in earnest and who/what is responsible? I can't really remember many during the 1990s, or early 2000s, when there were *paid* drivers at various times at Lancia, Toyota, Ford, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Peugeot, Citroen, Seat and Hyundai. Is it as simple as a lack of factory seats?

[Barreis]

2003 Hirvonen is the first in works seat nominated for ponts as far as I remember. there were some guys in Prodrive All Stars team but that was not works seat, just rented cars

[Jarek Z]

So Hirvonen is the first paying driver in WRC ever? He must also be the best ever, because he almost won the championship

Wasn't Luis Climent a paying driver before Hirvonen? Spanish sponsors (Airtel) appeared on Octavias WRC after he joined Skoda Motorsport in 2000 and disappeared when he left.
https://www.skoda-motorsport.com/en/...f-octavia-wrc/

I think that paying drivers is an idea that came from Forumula 1.

[RAS007]

So Hirvonen is the first paying driver in WRC ever? He must also be the best ever, because he almost won the championship

Wasn't Luis Climent a paying driver before Hirvonen? Spanish sponsors (Airtel) appeared on Octavias WRC after he joined Skoda Motorsport in 2000 and disappeared when he left.
https://www.skoda-motorsport.com/en/...f-octavia-wrc/

I think that paying drivers is an idea that came from Forumula 1.

I was going to mention Climent, as I'm pretty sure he bought that seat, but, I think there's a difference between paying for a drive, like we see nowadays, and bringing sponsorship to a team, like Loix with Marlboro, for example.

[Allez Andruet]

2003 Hirvonen is the first in works seat nominated for ponts as far as I remember.

A statement that does not represent the truth. The whole concept of "paying driver" is way too sketchy to be used as an attribute. And Hirvonen most definitely wasn't "the first" in any paying category. Climent probably was the first in factory teams in 00's, but we've had plenty of them before as well. The nature of the paying business was maybe different in the past, but at the end of the day it's about the same thing. If Hirvonen was a paying driver, how come Alex Fiorio wasn't?

[AnttiL]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBEVSBOraCQ

This Finnish report of Tour de Corse 1993 states at 7:40 that Andrea Aghini must pay Lancia for every rally, but the Italian ASN is supporting him. So this would imply it's not a totally brand new concept...

[Rally Power]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBEVSBOraCQ
This Finnish report of Tour de Corse 1993 states at 7:40 that Andrea Aghini must pay Lancia for every rally, but the Italian ASN is supporting him. So this would imply it's not a totally brand new concept...

Maybe he got some aid from ACI/Csai but Aghini was always mentioned as a Lancia/Jolly Club paid driver in 93 and the team was (like almost ever) backed by Fiat/Lancia and Totip, alongside that year main sponsor, Repsol, brought by Sainz.

Fiorio shouldn't either be considered a paying driver, once his Jolly Club years were also backed by the team sponsors; not so sure about his brief experience with Ford in 91, although it’s fair to say that despite being Cesare Fiorio son he was actually one the best Italian drivers of his generation.

Btw, didn’t Ford Spain and Ford France, among other sponsors, paid for Sainz and Auriol 1988 WRC outings with Ford Motorsport? Eventually we'll find that personal sponsors always played a major role in most WRC drivers careers.

[AnttiL]

the team was (like almost ever) backed by Fiat/Lancia

I thought the factory support ended after 1991

Btw, didn’t Ford Spain and Ford France, among other sponsors, paid for Sainz and Auriol 1988 WRC outings with Ford Motorsport? Eventually we'll find that personal sponsors always played a major role in most WRC drivers careers.

Tommi Mäkinen also got two factory team outings in 1991 from Mazda, maybe Timo Jouhki was already paying by then? And what about his drives with a private team Lancia in 1993?

[dodge33cymru]

Scanning the list of 1973 entrants, I'm going with Shekhar Mehta but I could be wrong there.

I was watching some footage from 1997 yesterday, and as far as I can work out there were only between 6-8 works seats that year, which is a similar number to this year.

I suspect the real answer to your somewhat loaded ("scourge", really?) question is that it has to with fewer and fewer external sponsorship deals (no tobacco, not worth it for alcohol, lesser ROI for other brands due to reduced mainstream exposure) and teams looking to save money to invest it elsewhere if one driver can bring sponsorship and another can't.

If you were starting a WRC team for a manufacturer this year, and you couldn't take any of the guys currently under contract (being paid) for a seat, which three would you choose? And after you've chosen those, could your mind be swayed on any of them, if your 4th or 5th choices could offer you a financial incentive?

[AnttiL]

I suspect the real answer to your somewhat loaded ("scourge", really?) question is that it has to with fewer and fewer external sponsorship deals (no tobacco, not worth it for alcohol, lesser ROI for other brands due to reduced mainstream exposure) and teams looking to save money to invest it elsewhere if one driver can bring sponsorship and another can't.

This. Also, car manufacturers aren't as wealthy as they were 20-30 years ago and similarly motorsport isn't as important marketing channel today as it used to be.