Vodafone Group Plc announce its title sponsorship of the 2002 Grand Prix of Italy. The event, to be held at Monza on the 13-15th September 2002 will be named the ’73º Gran Premio Vodafone d’Italia’. This will be the first time that the world’s largest mobile telecommunications company has taken title sponsorship of a Formula 1 event.

Vodafone Group Plc Chief Executive Sir Christopher Gent commented: ‘Sponsorship of the Italian Grand Prix allows Vodafone to extend its involvement in Formula 1. The event is watched by hundreds of millions of people around the globe and offers Vodafone enormous brand exposure amongst both existing and potential customers’.

Vodafone plan to leverage the event across their global system with customers, trade partners and internal employees. Extensive promotional campaigns will be run in the build up and throughout the Grand Prix weekend which will include competitions, merchandising promotions, advertising campaigns and exclusive offers.
The event will also play host to the Vodafone Test Track Racing Simulator, offering Formula 1 fans the chance to get inside an F1 car and experience the thrill of Formula 1 racing. The state of the art equipment features a high performance racing simulator system, allowing visitors the chance to race the famous Monza circuit at speeds up to 300km an hour in a virtual reality simulation.

For further information please contact Rachel Truett on +44 7831 236655 or email rachel.truett@octagon.com