Quote Originally Posted by RAS007 View Post
Perhaps "scourge" was too strong a word, although it's important to differentiate between a "tourist", say like Bertelli, and a "paying driver", like Ostberg. I don't think I need to point out the difference. I don't object to the likes of Bertelli, it's his money and he can spend it however he wishes. What annoys me is when someone like Breen is left on the sidelines due to lack of cash, or someone like Ostberg has to pay a professional outfit to get a drive; the operative word is "professional", meaning you get paid to do it, not the other way round.
Very important difference you point out here.

"Tourist" drivers that can never hope to get top 3 results have been around for ages. But the concept of drivers that are capable of top 3 results (and sometimes also got them in the past) and/or drivers nominated for manufacturer points is something that first really became "normal" with Hirvonen.

At that time (2004) he was very unproven driver who did most of the 2003 season (as a paying driver) with best results being 6th on Cyprus where he kind of just survived trough while others did not. Suddenly he was the 2nd driver in a car/team that just won the drivers title. While McRae who 2 year before finished 4th in the championship and was was probably best paid driver was without any drive at all.Yes Burns' illness was a factor in that.

After that it just slowly became "norm" with Kresta and Sola at Ford/Msport in 2005 etc etc. Also it almost destroyed Hirvonen's career cause he was terrible in the Subaru in 2004 (the Impreza was arguably the best gravel car that year) and got kicked at the end of season ending without a drive. Only good speed/results in the few rallies he entered in 2005 (again as paying driver), some of which were due to road position on gravel got him drive at Ford in 2006. If he did just a little big worse or Gardermeister or Kresta did a bit better, it's not so sure he would made it back.

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Yes you might be right that the underlying reason could be that there are less sponsor money. However I still think Jouhki (with Hirvonen) normalized the approach. If nobody of the drivers/managers came with the money then teams would not "expect" then to come with money from then on, even though in the longer term it might have been inevitable.