Telecommunications company Vodafone Australia will not renew its sponsorship of Triple Eight Race Engineering’s V8 Supercars team at the end of the 2012 season.
Vodafone’s move to end the association has been made as part of a major rollback of its sports sponsorships, which will also see the conclusion of its deal with Cricket Australia.
Vodafone has backed Triple Eight’s two entries since the start of the 2007 season, enjoying three victories in both the Bathurst 1000 and V8 Supercars Championship with the Queensland based squad.
The company’s Consumer Business Unit Director, Noel Hamill, paid tribute to Triple Eight’s achievements in an official statement.
“TeamVodafone has been an incredible, high-octane, excitement machine that has thrilled and inspired motorsport fans and our own employees around Australia,” said Hamill.
“Thank you Roland (Dane), Craig (Lowndes) and Jamie (Whincup) and the entire Triple Eight Race Engineering Team for a wild ride and for making TeamVodafone such a high profile success.”
Triple Eight director Roland Dane was also quoted in the Vodafone statement.
“Vodafone has always been an integral part of our team,” he said.
“By working together as TeamVodafone, we feel as though we have set a new benchmark in Australia for how a brand lives and breathes its sponsorship and how it brings that sponsorship to life.”
Dane could not be contacted by Speedcafe.com for further comment.
