THE BIG EISH HAS LANDED.....
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It could well be that all of you have heard about this great, drastic, sad, incredible - well it depends on how you look at it, deal long before I did.
I could not establish what the deal was about, or for how much the Gauteng government agreed to be responsible - but what I do know is that a F1 team, and for that matter a team run by Flavio Briatore, will not come cheap.
For what it is worth, here is the news and this while those in charge of Escom said that we should discourage investments from overseas companies.
The government of Gauteng, South Africa's largest province, and the ING Renault Formula One Team have agreed a one-year sponsorship deal.
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The Renault that will run with a GP number plate
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Under the agreement, Gauteng will directly sponsor the F1 team, with the aim of increasing its international profile. A competition will also be run throughout Gauteng that will offer a chance for one South African winner to drive the ING Renault F1 Team 2007 race car in England in June 2008.
The one-year deal was brokered by AIM-listed sports marketing company Essentially Group Ltd with an option to extend for a further two.
Commenting on the deal between ING Renault F1 and Gauteng, John Byfield, Chairman of Essentially said: "With this deal we have provided ING Renault F1, one of the highest profile F1 teams in the sport, with a partnership with one of the most innovative and forward thinking regions in the world, whilst simultaneously increasing the visibility of earnings for Essentially. Gauteng is rapidly becoming a global centre for international sport and we look forward to furthering the partnership in maintaining this success for years to come. This contract represents the start of a wide reaching commercial partnership which we believe will realize significant value for Essentially and its shareholders in the medium term".
Flavio Briatore, Team Principal and Managing Director of ING Renault F1 Team, added: "Essentially's brief is to find sponsors which have ambitions to become key partners with the ING Renault F1 team over the next few years.
Gauteng is such a partner. We are delighted with this innovative relationship which Essentially has helped us to build with a regional Provincial Government which is successfully transforming the region into a global centre of excellence in motor and other professional sports in addition to being Africa's leading financial centre."
The great news about this is that at last some form or SA government has realised the value of motorsport. The question however is - and that of course depends on the value of this ticket - whether they could have invested it into a local motorsport program?
How do you say "well done" and "what the hell were you thinking" at the same time?
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