After years of sponsoring the Grand Am series, Rolex name associated with the newly-merged American Le Mans Series and Grand Am known as the United Sportscar Championship. TUDOR announced today that it has inked a 5-year deal to be the entitlement sponsor of the USC:
“The 2014 season will feature the rebirth and revitalization of sports car racing in North America, and therefore it’s the ideal time to introduce a premium watch brand like TUDOR to our U.S. fans and partners, as well as further solidify our relationship with the international motorsports community,” said IMSA CEO Ed Bennett. “This is a natural progression of the fantastic relationship we’ve cherished for decades with our partners at Rolex.
“In TUDOR, we have an optimal match for the Championship, as its brand attributes align with ours, specifically its Grantour collection that was created for sports car aficionados.”
In 1926, Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf registered “The Tudor” brand and established Montres Tudor SA in 1946. From 2009 to 2011, TUDOR had a partnership with Porsche Motorsports as Timing Partner, and two years later, it began its collaboration with Ducati as global Timing Partner. Its affiliation with the FIA World Endurance Championship — which includes a race in Austin, Texas, alongside the American Le Mans Series race later this month —commenced this year.
The TUDOR United Sportscar Championship will debut at the Rolex 24 in Dayton.
O good, so still no real schedule, no real technical rules or anything that actually makes the racing, well a race but hey least the series has a title sponsor and a slight name change, O and a glossy IMSA hub site ;)
Excuse my sarcasm, It is good news that Rolex are continuing its support but I’m getting rather frustrated at the snail-paced progress been made for this series and this just seems rather trivial in the whole scheme of the series existence.
Is it the TUDOR championship because the cars don’t have four doors?