Base Batteries becomes the supplier for HRT
The geographical strategy chosen by HRT in recruiting Indian Narain Karthikeyan is starting to pay off: after the arrival of the Tata conglomerate, the Spanish team welcomes a second Indian supplier and sponsor as Base Batteries will provide its batteries.
The team does not hide that it was specifically targeting Indian companies through Narain Karthikeyan, as confirmed by Colin Kolles, the team manager of HRT: « for us, India is one of the fastest-growing markets. By signing Narain, who is the number one Indian driver, we hoped that Indian companies would support us. We are very proud to announce another Indian sponsor with Base who will help us move forward.»
The prospect of the first Grand Prix in history on the Indian subcontinent thus serves as a catalyst for the arrival of new structures and figures at the highest level of motorsports.
Thus, unlike China, India is already well represented in F1 with a team (Force India), a driver (Narain Karthikeyan), while Karun Chandhok has to settle for a third driver position at Team Lotus.
The investment put in place by Base Batteries will not just be a mere publicity stunt related to the arrival of this first Grand Prix, as the agreement with Jose-Ramon Carabante’s team is for three full seasons, which shows that both partners have confidence in the team’s ability to survive in the long term, despite what industry observers might say.
The agreement includes two distinct aspects: the supply of batteries to the team and also sponsorship on the car, which, to be fair, is quite devoid of sponsors despite a very original design. This strategy, both in terms of products and brand, is explained by Aditya Arora, the operations manager of the Indian company: “It’s a natural progression, which allows Base Batteries to be showcased on the global stage in one of the most prestigious sports in the world, through our partnership with Hispania Racing Team. As the official partner of the young F1 team, we will use this sponsorship to both build our brand in key regions of the world while providing opportunities for our business partners in the context of a very exciting racing event.”
We are therefore clearly in the same mindset as what is happening in other teams, as explained recently by Philippe Tardivel, the commercial manager of Scuderia Ferrari: companies no longer just want to stick a logo on a car and hope it will generate business returns. Today, they want quantifiable returns on investment and to take advantage of the exclusivity and prestige of the paddocks to grow their businesses.
With the participation of RacingBusiness.fr
