Thierry Neuville has created a bit of a stir with his look at the WRC and the need to innovate for the future. He cites F1 and their change, and that the 2.5 manufacturer entries is going to be tough to keep. But what are some of the issues that the WRC faces.

You can read the story here

Sam Tickell takes a quick look.

1. The WRC had a lot of rapid innovation between 2013-17. But what is next, is quite important.

2. The WRC has never been properly financially sustainable since professionalisation
3. 8 Rally1 cars is not enough.
4. BUT A non-manufacturer base Rally2 style is not financially sustainable for a global championship (see WTCR).
5. At least tune into ERC, if not, you can’t demonstrate success.
6. But this is not just WRC. It is all 2nd tier professional sports. Mega sports are taking the money
7. The media and financial markets are changing. The gap between the big sports and small sports is rapidly increasing.
8. Multiple sports are looking to their future with a lot of angst
9. Over the past 30+ years, there was an accepted biz model. Now, there is no accepted model
10. For sports like WRC, it will come more to attracting attention and how to financialise that
11. For motorsport, it is even worse. You can’t through marketing $ to a tech that will be legislated out
12. But hybrid has zero emotional connection to fans
13. So what to do???