Brawn GP gradually finds sponsors again!

The Brawn GP saga will forever be etched in the history of Formula 1. The team, abandoned by Honda and then saved by its technical director, Ross Brawn, surprised everyone during the first Grand Prix of the season in Australia, winning a victory right at its competition debut. The adventure was only supposed to last a few Grand Prix, 4 at most, said pessimists observing a white car with no sponsors.

Nevertheless, from the Australian GP onwards, the trend reversed and the sponsors gradually confirmed their commitment to the team. Virgin was the first major sponsor to place trust in the team saved from collapse; Richard Branson signed a contract just before the first qualifiers of the year.

Two weeks ago, it was MIG Investments, a Swiss investment company, that partnered with the team, placing its logos in China on the front wing and pontoons of the BGP 001 cars. The sponsor, founded in 2003, will also have its logo on all the racing suits starting from the Spanish GP. The partnership was concluded for three years.

Then the sunglasses manufacturer, Ray-Ban, also confirmed its commitment with Brawn GP. The American eyewear giant is thus renewing with the team for the sixth consecutive year. It was indeed with Honda that Ray-Ban entered Formula 1 in June 2004. The logo is not visible on the car, but only on the drivers’ helmets. The partnership also stipulates that the glasses worn by the team members are from the Ray-Ban 2009 range.

This week, it’s RCE and Endless Advance’s turn to confirm their sponsorship with the current leading team in the drivers’ and constructors’ world championships. The logos of these two companies are not present on the cars or suits, but only on the technical equipment of the English team.

Endless Advance, signing on for a sixth year, will provide brake fluid through its specialized subsidiary, Endless Brake Technology. The Swedish company is a leader in this field in Europe and already supplies most of the teams on the 2009 grid. RCE, for its part, is a data virtualization company. It provides the team with access to virtualization methods for the behavior of its single-seaters. Brawn GP will be working particularly closely with the factory based in Wiltshire, England, to further develop its BGP 001.

Finally, regarding Virgin, Branson, its director, is reportedly finalizing a partnership with the team to sponsor Brawn GP as the main sponsor starting from the Spanish GP. The contract amount could then double. The future of Brawn GP is therefore largely secured for the moment. The financing for a second season would even be nearly achieved.