All Eyes On Intel, Bmw For Formula 1 Race Car Launch In Spain

fuzzo · January 20, 2006

Supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio, making a surprise appearance in Valencia. As part of the launch festivities, BMW staged a fashion show Monday highlighting a new line of apparel.

With broad smiles and handshakes all around, key leaders from Intel and BMW have gathered in Valencia, Spain this week to unveil the new BMW Sauber Formula 1 race car.

The car was officially rolled out Tuesday morning.

It is a major and closely-watched event for motor sport fans worldwide. Several hundred journalists, execs and employees from both companies have converged here on Spain’s third-largest city to witness the launch, or to help publicly cement the deal.

Formula 1 part of comprehensive relationship with BMW

The new BMW Sauber Formula 1 car, being unveiled Tuesday morning in Valencia, Spain. Intel is a partner in the team. Mario Theissen, head of BMW Motorsports (right) is with BMW technical director Willy Rampf.

Watch Circuit News later this week for details of the partnership, and why this new relationship is so important to both companies’ marketing strategies.

Intel last month announced a comprehensive technology and marketing partnership with BMW, which designates Intel as "Official Corporate Partner" of the BMW Sauber Formula 1 team.

Monday, top Sales and Marketing execs set the stage with 1:1 briefings with reporters, some of whom have flown to Spain from as far away as China and Australia to cover the car’s unveiling.

Supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio takes the runway

A picture is worth 1,000 words. In Valencia Spain, Monday, Intel Chief Marketing Officer Eric Kim (left) beams as he shakes hands with Mario Theissen, head of BMW Motorsports.

And at Valencia’s famed City of Arts and Sciences complex, BMW hosted a fashion show Monday night to highlight new consumer apparel intended to additionally promote the BMW Sauber Formula 1 team.

To audience cheers and a flurry of shutter-clicks and camera flashes, supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio made a surprise, unannounced appearance.

Formula 1 races attract monstrous audiences, with an estimated 161 million viewers watching each race. However, the Intel-BMW partnership extends considerably beyond racing into other aspects of BMW’s operations worldwide. Watch for follow-up coverage in Circuit News later this week.