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Why did Mazda build Neal a 323 if he had raced an Xedos earlier in the season, and Mazda had pulled out anyway.
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AFAIK, I heard the team that was responsible for the Mazda effort was hoping to continue development and racing without Works support. But that dream quickly disappeared.
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And why did the Andy Rouse Corolla never race, Patrick Watts was meant to race it in 1998?
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Well, it turns out to homologate a car to FIA standards--which Andy Rouse was hoping to do--you need the manufacturer's blessing. But unfortunately, Toyota was refusing to give it's support. Theoretially, Andy Rouse could have been able to race if the BTCC organizers would give the car a special exemption. But without full FIA homogolation, it would have been hard to market the car as "privateer built/priced, works competitive/beating" car??? Why not support Andy? Hard to say. Some suggest it was b/c Toyota was intending to race the Altezza/Lexus IS200 in the very near BTCC future. Others think Toyota didn't want to confuse the public (or split their motorsport budget) since the Corolla was also being rallied as well. Would it be confusing to have a Rally and touring Corolla exist at the same time?? Do you want the Corolla to have a rally and adventurous image or do you want a racy touring car image??
Me? Heck, I think Toyota should have given Rouse the blessings. It wouldn't have cost Toyota a penny? Why not have a car show up for at least a few rounds? It's promoting your brand for crying out loud. OTOH, I guess Toyota didn't want to be embarassed if the car did poorly. If the car did poorly, I guess Toyota would almost be obliged to support them in order to defend the automaker's honour??? Am I getting to medieval???