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Motorsports' Love Affair With The Cigarette
Anyone involved in motorsports will know that it is an expensive affair and, passion alone cannot help one survive the rigours of the sport. It is not only enthusiasts but sponsors who have kept the wheels of motorsports running without a hitch since several years.
Motorsports and sponsorship will definitely take you to one topic - Cigarettes. The Tobacco industry was one of the major sponsor of Formula 1 racing starting from the late 1960s. Cigarette brands found their names and logos on some of the most prominent racing cars, drivers and teams.
Some of the major Formula 1 teams that have been associated with cigarette brands are Ferrari (Marlboro), Lotus (Gold Leaf), McLaren (West), Honda (British American Tobacco) and Williams F1 (Camel, Rothmans).
Formula 1 is not the only motor sport competition that found sponsors from the tobacco industry. Several cigarette brands have been involved with motorcycling, world rally championship and much more. Lets have a look at some of the major racing teams and legends who were sponsored by cigarette brands.
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The growing popularity of motorsports was used well by Tobacco companies who established a strong brand following through their sponsorships. Tobacco sponsors were the chief sponsors of racing teams from the 1970s until the beginning of the 21st century.
Lets have a look at some of the racing teams and legends sponsored by tobacco brands.
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Tobacco companies are no longer involved in motorsports. And if you were wondering why, the answer is government regulations. Several countries started regulating tobacco advertising.
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West Germany went on to ban tobacco advertisements in racing events completely way back in 1976 itself.
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But you will no longer find cigarette brands or names on any motorsports teams. Government regulations have driven tobacco advertising from all media and motorsports was no exception.
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Thankfully, there were more sponsors ready to support motorsports than ever before in the beginning of this century.
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Ferrari is the only F1 team that has retained a tobacco sponsorship. Although it no longer displays the Marlboro name, the Ferrari team logo's text is now very similar to Marlboro.
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Wayne Michael Gardner is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and touring car racer. He made his name winning the 1987 500 cc Motorcycle World Championship.
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Tommi Makinen is one of the most sucessfull WRC rally drivers ever. He is here seen driving a Marlboro sponsored rally car.
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Technology brands such as Panasonic (Toyota F1), Compaq and HP (Williams F1) and Vodafone (McLaren) have had a presence in Formula 1.
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In recent years energy drinks such as Red Bull and Monster Energy have become the major sponsors of motorsports. In fact Red Bull is owning its own racing team and is also the 2012 F1 constructors' champion.
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Monster energy drink is sponsoring Ken Block, the professional rally driver of the Hoonigan Racing Division, which was previously named as the Monster World Rally Team.
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Racing events no longer have the tobacco flavour but these cars and bikes continue to smoke their tyres on the race track - Stay tuned!
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