The Audi R8 LMS Cup has announced its list of official partners ahead of the sprint race series’ sixth season. Following the announcement of Pirelli as the Cup’s official tyre partner in January, TEDA, Castrol, PPTV, sportauto and China Television Service (CTVS) have been confirmed as the other official partners.
“We are excited to have assembled such a great collection of partners, which are each leaders in their respective professional fields,” said Bernd Goeres, Director of Audi Sport customer racing Asia. “Together with our partners we will deliver an emotional, competitive motorsport experience to millions of fans all over Asia, both at our events and across a wide range of TV and online channels.”
Following a fruitful partnership that has seen Audi TEDA Racing Team win the Team Cup for the last three seasons, TEDA returns as full partner for the season, with Shaun Thong confirmed as the new driver.
Leading lubricant solutions provider, Castrol, the partner and official oil supplier for the Cup, also returns, strengthening its long-held global collaboration with Audi Sport. The driver of the Castrol Racing Team car in the Audi R8 LMS Cup will be announced shortly.
One of China’s leading video portals, PPTV, joins as a new official partner of the Audi R8 LMS Cup. The agreement will see all races live streamed with full studio coverage on PPTV – a subsidiary of Suning Sports Group, the Chinese conglomerate that last year purchased a majority stake in the Italian football team, F.C Internazionale Milano.
Continuing as the official media partner of the Cup is sportauto, the China-based sister company of prestigious German automotive magazine, auto motor und sport. CTVS also renews its collaboration with the Cup as the championship’s television and live broadcast production partner.
The Audi R8 LMS Cup reaches an audience of millions through its extensive media activities. In 2016, the Cup’s television highlights show was watched by over 65 million on leading Asian stations such as Fox Sports and Star Sports, and Chinese stations such as Guangzhou TV. The Cup’s international and Chinese social media platforms have over 400,000 followers with the social media coverage generating over 16 million impressions.
The official partner logos will be displayed on all cars participating in the Audi R8 LMS Cup, including the official Cup car livery, which is also launched today. The Team Audi R8 LMS Cup car livery makes its track debut at the first race of Blancpain GT Series Asia on April 8-9 at the Sepang International Circuit, with Alex Yoong and Alex Au at the wheel. Yoong will also pilot the car in the full season of the Audi R8 LMS Cup.
The Audi R8 LMS Cup’s sixth season kicks off on May 6-7 at the Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia.
