In the current times, there is a kind of "Elephant in the room" that is the fact that in rally-raid or cross-country rallies there is any more the direct support or involvement with an official racing team of any car manufacturer on global terms, neither in FIA events, nor in the ever-increasing number of large rallies, of which the Dakar Rally still shines above all others. Of course, in some countries, some brands still support the local championships, either by sponsoring events or having teams with their official name and colours. But it is with some sorrow that we see the times of the legendary teams of Mitsubishi and Peugeot/Citroen more and more distant and without a proper replacement or update. A few years ago, Volkswagen, after a quite successful campaign, also made its path into shelf of the history books and more recently was the time for Peugeot to vanish for a second time after returning to the "active". They aren't the only ones, for example Seat also made a serious but brief attempt in cross-country rallies long time ago.
Of course, the big companies that sell us our normal cars have their excuses for that: The sport is expensive, the general public aren't interested in it, it is not environmentally friendly, it is dangerous and even the technologies are changing. All these arguments have a foot in reality and the other in what the receivers of the message expect from those guys, playing into more wide background narrative against the car industry due to pollution, climate change or some other interest. The reality is that cars keep selling more and more, especially SUVs that appeal to adventure and exploration, the industry is still strong, so why to invest in sport or developing of new technologies related with it if the business goes strong. Other point in favour of the factories is that the participants always mention that they drove brand X or Y at their races, we also do it, so in most cases we are all offering free promotion and huge return to the ones who aparently don't care about it and still profit.
The void created at the top by the departure of the car manufactures was occupied by the next ones in line, the big privateer teams that in reality aren't real teams in the sense that they do not have a sports director who hires the most gifted drivers to fly their colours, but instead are acting a bit more like a "rent-a-car", where the drivers who have the necessary amount of money go to rent the best car they can and enter the races. This is not necessarily bad, as many more drivers have access to the top vehicles available at a given time, and also the competition becomes more levelled, allowing some of the best privateers to have a real chance of getting a good result. But on the opposite side, when it’s only money that comes into play, it can mean that the hands holding the wheel aren't the most gifted and the sport can become a bit boring... or (more) dangerous. Do not get us wrong, for us anyone racing in cross-country rallies is very welcome, for one simple reason: they love the same sport as us and are helping to keep it alive. But we do need the official structures returning.
In the end, the inexistence of official teams is not good, causing the competitors, the organizers and even the governing bodies to lose the focus a little bit, the shrinking of the sport, and also causing some confusion, like for example may races overlapping each other. Those teams always worked as guides and pace setters and the others behind put an extra effort to catch and follow them. Even for the drivers, to be invited to be part of an official team was a career goal, that now doesn't exist anymore - they simply need to have pockets deep enough.
The actual path is probably not wrong, but it is also not the most correct. The entities that govern this sport, either internationally or at national level, and all the rest of us that are directly or indirectly involved in the sport must figure out something that, on the one hand, catches more public attention, and that, on the other hand, can convince the manufacturers to return. We can't hide the problems or challenges we face, otherwise in the not too distant future we will see our beloved sport vanishing like a sand dune in the desert blown by the wind.
To finish, let’s returning to the title of this post, the "Era of Rent-a-Car". The path the sport followed took us here, and maybe this is the best solution at the moment to keep the sport alive, competitive and interesting. And we know that time doesn't roll back, so it is pointless to keep mentioning the past. But it could be very good for the sport if we could get the attention of the manufacturers again and attract some of them into the sport as it would benefit us all.
The Rally-Raid Network
