First came word of Audi's decision to
"Exit Stage Left" from Le Mans and Top flight Sports Car racing, nee
the World Endurance Championship. (WEC) Which was quickly followed by the
announcement that Volkswagen, Audi's parent company will leave the World Rally
Championship (WRC) also at the end of the current season.
Suppose these decisions shouldn't really be
that unexpected, especially in the wake of VW trying to extricate itself from
Diesel Gate! As typically racing programme's and advertising dollars are the
first line-items to be cut when a company's restructuring itself.
Not to mention that there's probably little
PR value left now that VW's Blitzed the WRC competition the past four
consecutive years, albeit it'll be funny if another VW brand suddenly starts
winning in Rallying. Y'all know who Skoda is, right?
Although it's
kinda funny how VW's "shrewdly" getting out on top of both series, as
I didn't know Toyota's returning to WRC next year, along with having nearly won
Le Mans last year...