Virgin Racing Welcomes QNet into F1

Virgin Racing is delighted to announce a new long term partnership with International Direct Selling Company QNet, commencing with effect from this weekend’s 2010 Formula One season finale in Abu Dhabi. The QNet brand will feature on Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi’s racewear and the sidepods of their Virgin Racing VR-01 race cars as they race from dusk through to night, under the lights of the Yas Marina Circuit.

QNet, a leader in Direct Selling in Asia and with a significant presence in the Middle East is the flagship subsidiary of the QI Group of Companies, an international conglomerate headquartered in Hong Kong. QNet distributes a wide range of wellness and lifestyle products and services through its cutting edge e-commerce platform to millions of customers worldwide. For QNet, which has been involved with motorsport through its sponsorship of teams in the Formula BMW, Formula V6 and the GP2 Asia series from 2004 to 2009, the move to Formula One is a natural progression, ensuring exposure for the brand on a global stage, in one of the most prestigious sporting arenas.

At the launch event, Graeme Lowdon, CEO of Virgin Racing, Sir Richard Branson and Vijay Eswaran, the Executive Chairman of the QI Group, expressed their delight at this new partnership:

Graeme Lowdon
“It is very exciting to be able to announce QNet as a new long term partner for Virgin Racing at the season finale in Abu Dhabi. Much like our team, QNet is a young and progressive company with an aggressive development strategy for success. We are looking forward to 2011 with confidence and QNet, along with all our partners, can be assured that we will be relentless in pursuit of our racing objectives. We look forward to working together with QNet in the years ahead."

Sir Richard Branson
“I am absolutely delighted by this news. Having been personally involved in the partnership discussions, it's particularly pleasing for me to see this come to fruition. I look forward to working with QNet on this project and hopefully many others."

Vijay Eswaran
“The way I see it, it is the coming together of two dynamic lifestyle Groups – Virgin and QI. For us, it was a decision made easy by the commitment and dedication shown by the Virgin Racing team. Plus, of course there is always the Richard Branson factor, which is undeniably a major plus point for us! It is rare for me to come across another individual, especially one of Sir Richard’s stature, who has the same viewpoint on life as I do. I see this as the beginning of a journey between the QI Group and the Virgin Group with QNet and the Virgin Racing F1 Team kicking off the journey."