2019 WRX championship healthier than ever without manufacturers
With all three WRX manufacturers (Audi, Peugeot and Volkswagen) now withdrawn from WRX, how would the 2019 championship survive" Well, if the first four rounds are anything to go by, the answer is extremely well.
The need to ?improve the show? is becoming increasingly important in modern racing. Apparently the incredible achievement of a team dominating a championship is no longer entertaining and since F1 decided this was the case, everyone else has followed suit.
However, one form of racing that remains incredibly entertaining, is World Rallycross. Who doesn?t enjoy cars that accelerate from 0-60mph faster than F1" Or five-car-wide battles into Turn 1" Add to that jumps, drifting and the odd rear end tap and you have a formula that is guaranteed to wow the crowds. This is not just a theory, according to IMG (the series promoter), WRX global audience figures (sum of live broadcast, highlights and re-runs) has grown by 41% from 2017 to 2018, with race attendance increasing by a similar margin. Compare this to the 7.8% growth in race attendance that F1 was shouting about earlier this season, and you can appreciate the achievement of WRX.

In addition to constantly developing the racing product, WRX, like most categories decided to look into electric to grow the series further. Therefore, IMG, along with the FIA, turned their attention to an all-electric rallycross championship, where Williams Adva...