Exide land sponsorship deal with prodigy tipped to win Carrera Cup GB
Exide Technologies, the automotive battery giant, has won a fiercely contested battle to become title sponsor to Juta Racing—the team behind Jonas Gelžinis—in the Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain.
Last year Jonas Gelžinis, 22, stunned everyone with a phenomenal inaugural performance. The Lithuanian picked up five wins and finished runner-up despite having never raced on any of the tracks previously. This year he is aiming for the prestigious pro-am1 title. “It will be much easier now I know all the circuits”, said Gelžinis.
300 thousand people will show up to spectate over 10 weekends. 14 million will tune in on ITV and millions more will follow the event across print, radio and online. Each year brands aggressively compete to back the winner and see their livery drenched in champagne.
“Brands want to gain mindshare among the lucrative demographic that spends big on car parts”, explains Andrew Bevington, Sales & Marketing Director, Exide. “By positioning Exide alongside Porsche and the likely winner, we’re telling consumers we’re a performance brand that gets results. This makes consumers more likely to buy our Premium batteries, increasing sales and margins for our resellers”.
The deal includes Exide branding prominently displayed on Juta Racing’s GT3 cup cars; the Exide brand positioned as the main sponsor on drivers’ overalls; crew and team racing staff will wear Exide-branded clothing and Exide livery will be on the vehicle transporter. Inside the Juta Racing team garage, Exide Premium batteries will be on display.
Gelžinis is ecstatic to have the backing of a brand with Exide’s clout. “It’s a tremendous honour to be powered by Exide, the titan of batteries. I can’t wait to work with Andrew, Craig and the entire team. Together, we’re going to take Juta Racing to the next level”.
“Exide are proud to sponsor Jonas Gelžinis, Tautvydas Barstys and the entire Juta Racing team”, said Andrew Bevington. “We wish them luck for 2011 and beyond”.
