I just have to ask this and please, give an honest answer, as you all have more knowledge in racing then I do. Last year the Factory team, did everything right, tested the car, were cautious, got Dani & Kris familiar with the cars and did not go all out till the end. That was smart, a lot of work and they claimed all along that they were doing the full WRC in 2012. Why would you do all that, make those claims and not have any money set aside to fund the 2012 season? Was it a con job, just like the warranty and free maintenance BMW claims you are going to get? Jim
Jim, it comes down to money... I'm going to assume that BMW/MINI had every intention of a long term program in WRC. They dumped a lot into ProDrive. They went to one of the best out there to get the program off the ground. ProDrive ain't cheap. Back in the motherland BMW execs turn the TV on and look for WRC. Wait, where the heck is coverage. Why is it so scaled back this year, oh my, what did we do with all that money! The dog hides under the couch. The kids scamper. One also has to look at the state of WRC ownership. Headlines like this one do not install a lot of confidence in the executive team that said lets go big spend bucks and take the Countryguy to WRC. "WRC Commercial Owner Declares Bankruptcy Following Chairman's Arrest" Little things like this make those execs stomachs go into fits... The phone rings, it's David Richards, aka Mr ProDrive. "Herr Moneybags" he says, "it's time to pay up for that 2012 season you want us to run for you." Herr Moneybags backpedals on releasing it all to ProDrive. Hints that they want to run away. Richards probably mentions a multi-year agreement they brokered so Herr Moneybags makes a deal, lets run one car and ya'll can sell the other seat to the highest bidder at other events. Lets see how that works for a year and then we look at all this again. That Jim is why I think there is only one factory WRC Rallyman in the 2012 season.
I've done a lot of digging for better info on this and I can't find anything definitive. Neither Herr Moneybags nor anyone from Prodrive seems to want to spill the real details...either that or I'm just not searching well and I've missed it. I've done my best to detect and disregard the majority of what I've read as speculation based on little/nothing more than outsider expectations. That leaves little that feels real/solid, but it's fairly consistent. Here's what I think. I think the "deal" was that Prodrive would do all the real work and MINI would do all the promotion. MINI provided the majority of funding for the testing and limited 2011 program. However, there was never any promise from MINI to increase funding to the level required to run the full 2012 season nor any expectation on the part of Prodrive that they would do so. In fact, I suspect they said from the beginning that their financial commitment to the program would peak in 2011, sort of as seed money to get the ball rolling. The deal and therefore expectation of both parties, from the very start, was that a full 2012 season would depend on acquiring a different Mr. Moneybags / title sponsor who wanted to be associated with MINI's return to rallying. Nathan's description of the affects of the downfall of the promoter, lack of coverage, etc, meant that no one could be convinced to throw money at the new program. As a result Prodrive pushed MINI to change the plan and keep things going a little longer while MINI, observing the same signs that turned off new investors, backed up even further than they originally intended to between 2011 and 2012. This left Prodrive with two real options, drop out or cut back.
One may then wonder why in the heck they tossed all that money at Dakar. Those "cars" were even less a MINI than the WRC Cars are. Heck they were BMW X3's with mid mounted 3.something diesel engines wrapped in psudo Countryman sorta looking bodywork with MINI plastered all over them. My thinking is this.... The Team Manger of the Dakar team is Sven Quandt. The Quandt family is either the or one of the wealthiest family's in Germany. They own BMW for the most part with 2 seats on the board and just over 50% of the stock in their control. The few million the Dakar team costs is pocket change to this family worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $18 Billion... Maybe they do it so Sven has something to do.
Thanks Nathan and Steve. That is a very reasonable answer. It was all smoke and mirrors and with all the stuff happening in the WRC world, it played out as it did. Understanding in a way, but disappointing. That could explain Ford waffling too, but why is Citroen hanging tough? Jim
As far as I can tell it wasn't an unusual plan. No manufacturer wants to fully back a racing program in any series if they don't have to. I suspect the numbers crunched by MINI's accountants were provided by Prodrive and rooted in assumptions based on the way leading teams typically fill their budgets in WRC. As to the smoke and mirrors bit, I don't remember ever reading anything from either MINI or Prodrive that said MINI were funding a full program starting in 2012. They just said they would run a full program. In the background they were confident they would get their budget topped up as soon as the world saw the MINIs moving fast and taking it to the Fords and Citroens. I don't think they were trying to hide the truth from anyone about their intent, I imagine they didn't think there was anything to apologize for because that's just the way you do it.....again, I'm guessing, but I think I might be right..... Why are Citroen still in? I'll venture a few more guesses. To start with, Citroen still have plenty of sponsorship so the factory isn't footing anything like a full program bill. I'll guess it also has something to do with their domination the last few years. The sponsorship is already there plus they get all the headlines and they not only win the team championship every year but they have the magnificent Loeb who wins all the driver championships. There may not be a lot of coverage or press but what there is has no choice but to sing the praises of Citroen (most of the time). If their fortunes turn, they may flee...I read they threatened to quit WRC in (I think) 2010 and move to DTM.
OK, I can see the larger picture now and perhaps it is not what I thought it was. I guess I am still learning how the car racing game works. I'm back in the support group again. Jim
they really need Television coverage Why would any business want to dump $$$$ into a program that nobody will see. The only coverage you may see in the USA is on Velocity channel on brighthouse cable if you even have it in your area. I have never figured out why the Rally series never gets the coverage it needs and deserves. Nascar gets world wide coverage and their racing really stinks compared to the WRC. NASCAR was good when they ran real cars that you could buy but the crap they run now is a clone of each other with a sticker that is supposed to represent the manufacture. (UGH!!) No, give me the WRC anytime and if they would start showing these rallies on Speedvision or CNN sports I would bet a lot of Americans would really get into and enjoy watching and viewing the sponsors products. To me personally:: The WRC is the very best televission viewing you can ever get. Thank You Velocity for showing it.