Autosport Plus

Why one series' cancellation is a stark warning for others

The Jaguar I-PACE eTrophy has been pulled after just two years due largely to the COVID-19 pandemic. But could this just be the first of several championships that eventually crumble due to the global situation?

Matt Kew May 18, 2020, 3:15 PM

The coronavirus pandemic has been a reminder that motorsport is peripheral. This is no longer an era of Enzo Ferrari - manufacturers exist to make cars and money first, and go racing second. As such, the continuation of teams and championships are at the mercy of spreadsheets and economic analysis.

Jaguar Land Rover's finances have been under scrutiny for some time. Last year, long before factory shutdowns and working from home, it announced a cut of 4500 jobs. Anyone who's been to Bruntingthorpe Airfield will have seen the hundreds of Jaguar and Land Rovers sitting dormant. It's more cost effective to churn out a load of unsold cars than it is to cease production lines and disrupt supply chains.

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Author Matt Kew

Matt Kew is Autosport’s F1 Editor, a role he has held since March 2022 following stints covering Formula E, Extreme E and the British Touring Car Championship.

Matt joined Autosport in 2018 to work predominantly on the magazine, but his relentless quoting of Alan Partridge meant office colleagues soon thought he would be better-suited to increased field work.

Needless to say, Matt had the last laugh when he won the Motorsport UK Young Journalist of the Year Award in 2019.

His interest in motorsport was sparked by regular trips to watch ASCAR crash around Rockingham’s banked oval.

Matt read politics and philosophy at the University of Sheffield - receiving first-class honours for his dissertation assessing the lack of female participation in top-tier motor racing.

He covered a wide variety of national race and rally meetings for Autosport as a freelancer before joining full-time. His best efforts to argue the merits of historic racing are undone by a questionable taste in music and James Bond actors.