Renault have announced that they are working with another Russian sponsor for the remaining five races of the year. Apparently part of their Eastern European marketing efforts are focused on Russian succinctly and with 2010’s sponsorship deal with Lada, this would make the second such sponsorship. Here is the presser:
The Renault F1 Team is pleased to announce another successful step in its commercial strategy in Eastern Europe with the arrival of Vyborg Shipyard JSC as a team partner for the final five rounds of the 2010 season.
This marks the team’s second partnership with a Russian company in 2010, following the agreement with Lada, whose logos have featured on the team’s cars throughout the season. Both companies have been attracted to the team by Vitaly Petrov’s promising debut season as Russia’s first ever F1 driver. Vitaly has registered four points-scoring finishes so far in 2010, including a best finish of fifth at the Hungarian Grand Prix – the strongest result for a rookie driver this year
Vyborg Shipyard JSC is one of the largest shipbuilding companies in the North-Western region of Russia, and its logo will feature on the chassis of both R30 race cars for the remainder of the 2010 season. Vitaly Petrov, a native of Vyborg, will also carry the Vyborg Shipyard logo on his overalls.
It’s an interesting sponsor to say the least because I am not sure how many potential ships F1 fans are waiting to build but it is a sponsor nonetheless and my hat is off to Genii Capital for being able to wrestle up sponsorship in an economy as solid as Joran Van Der Sloot’s mental state.
The team have shown interest in exploiting the market when they signed Vitaly Petrov and this is another reason their tough talk about jettisoning Petrov confounds me. Perhaps with companies like Lada and Vyborg, Petrov’s future at Renault is more secure than I give it credit for or more secure than the team leads on?
