Race of Champions announces official partner
For the first time in the company's history, McLaren Formula 1 sponsor aigo – the leading brand for MP3/MP4 players and digital cameras in China – has been announced as an official event partner by joining forces with the end-of-season Race of Champions showdown.
One of the most intense head-to-head challenges in the world of motorsport, the RoC will for the first time on 16 December be held on British soil, as 16 of the world's very best drivers from a wide variety of disciplines go up against each other in a series of knockout heats in identical cars. They will do battle around a specially-designed, one-kilometer parallel circuit in the brand new, state-of-the-art Wembley Stadium in London to see who really is the 'Champion of Champions'.
Those due to compete include German racing legend and seven-time Formula 1 World Champion Michael Schumacher, fellow grand prix aces Jenson Button, David Coulthard, Sebastian Vettel and 2005 Race of Champions winner Heikki Kovalainen, double World Rally Champion Marcus Grönholm, three-time World Touring Car Championship title-winner Andy Priaulx, 'King of Le Mans' Tom Kristensen, twice DTM champ Mattias Ekström, four-time Champ Car Champion Sébastien Bourdais and reigning double NASCAR title-holder Jimmie Johnson.
As many as 80,000 spectators are expected to attend, with exotic machinery ranging from the Aston Martin V8 Vantage and Ford Focus WRC '07 to the specially-designed RoC car, Solution F and Fiat Grande Punto S2000 Abarth set to ensure they do not leave disappointed. What's more, aigo will be prominently visible throughout the world-class stadium on the start-finish line, whilst the Race of Champions has named one of the turns on its unique tarmac race track aigo corner.
"The spectacular development of the aigo trend products, expanding brand awareness all over the world, is similar to the developing motivation of the Race of Champions," commented Jessie Chang, aigo Music CEO. "Sharing the same values of high-performance, speed, passion and high-technology will create an opportunity to activate a win-win communication platform for aigo."
As a result of its partnership with aigo and its very close relationship with China, the Race of Champions will be shown on CCTV throughout the country in the run-up to Christmas. By benefiting from the media plan of the event, meanwhile – with some 400 journalists expected to attend and 1,645 hours of global broadcasting – aigo will promote its brand and products across as many as 205 countries, with prominent coverage in Europe. In 2006 the RoC was watched by more than 186 million viewers.
"We are proud to welcome aigo as an official partner of the Race of Champions," added Fredrik Johnsson, who along with the world's greatest female rally driver Michèle Mouton founded the event back in 1988, meaning 2007 will mark its 20th anniversary. "aigo is our first Chinese partner and together we are looking forward to building a strong and mutually successful partnership.
"With the growing popularity of the Race of Champions, it is a perfect event platform for aigo to communicate their brand and exciting new products like the MP3 and MP4 players and high-resolution digital cameras to a worldwide audience."
Established in 1993, aigo specializes in making high-technology mobile storage devices, optomagnetic, digital and self-assembling products. The company has been involved in motor racing since January, 2007, through its sponsorship of McLaren-Mercedes in the Formula 1 World Championship. aigo's other major sporting partnerships include the Beijing Olympic Games 2008 and football.