LONDON, England -- Three-time world Grand Prix champion Jackie Stewart today welcomed MCI Telecommunications into his family of sponsors of the Stewart-Ford Formula One team.
The sponsorship agreement was announced by Stewart, Chairman of Stewart Grand Prix, and Andy Deas, general manager of MCI Racing, at a press conference at the Grosvenor House hotel here. Financial details of the agreement, which includes MCI sponsorship identity on the Stewart-Ford Formula One cars, were not revealed.
Stewart and his son, Paul, have enjoyed considerable success with teams in Formula 3 and Formula 3000 and now operate Stewart Grand Prix in Formula One. In 1997, its first on the fabled worldwide tour, Stewart's Ford Motor Company-backed team finished second in the Monaco Grand Prix.
In the cockpit was Rubens Barrichello, of Brazil, will be in the second year of a three-year contract. His team-mate, Jan Magnussen, who had won the British Formula 3 championship with the Stewart team in 1994. In 1998, Magnussen will be in the second year of a four-year contract with Stewart Grand Prix.
MCI's investment in world Grand Prix racing expands the involvement it already has in numerous forms of motorsports, including its status as the official telecommunications company of the NASCAR and CART series.
"MCI fits perfectly into the international scope of Formula One racing," Stewart said. "MCI is a global giant with goals so vast that it will feel very much at home in a sport so world-wide as ours."
"We and our cars will wear with pride the blue and orange of MCI and its distinctive sunburst."
Said MCI's Deas: "In breathtaking fashion all its own, motor racing is symbolic of MCI's quest to be the best. Our business is to seize the moment in the ever-changing atmosphere of telecommunications, and our racing sponsorships and drivers reflect our efforts to do so.
"Like Formula One racing, telecommunications is a fast-paced, highly-competitive industry that demands teamwork and performance. Our agreement with Stewart Grand Prix gives MCI the ability to align its brand with a sport a team with the same characteristics."
Stewart agreed. "Formula One racing is spectacular, historic, and traditional," he said. "It's on the cutting edge of all kinds of research and development throughout the world. As a result, our form of racing meshes with grace and style the vision and devotion to performance that has made MCI the dynamic corporation that it is."
Stewart drove in 99 Grand Prix races from 1965 through 1973, winning the world championship in (1969, 1971 and 1973).
The international motorsports sponsorship of Stewart Grand Prix gives the MCI brand an extensive global reach that complements the company's existing auto racing sponsorships. The MCI Racing group spearheads all of MCI's motorsports initiatives that, in addition to NASCAR and CART, include ARS/Indy Lights, Atlantics Championship, Historic Sports Car Racing series, as well as team sponsorships that include the Arciero Wells/MCI Racing Team in CART, the MCI Toyota Atlantic Team, the MCI Toyota Off-Road Truck Team, the PacWest Racing Team and Triple Caution Racing.
In 1998, many European nations will open their telecommunications markets to competition for the first time, a move that MCI applauds and believes will encourage further growth and opportunities in the industry.
Said Deas: "This Formula One sponsorship allows us to build brand identity in this $170 billion marketplace. We are confident that Stewart Grand Prix is the right partner to make that happen."
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