Sponsorship and Porsche in the FIA/WEC.

At the outset of 2014, one of the prime motor sport sponsorship opportunities in 2014 must have been Porsche’s return to prototypes as a factory team to the world of endurance racing . But the 'writing' on the cars is nothing if not confusing, (see our blog post on Porsche livery) except for one bit that very clearly states in big letters ‘DMG MORI’. If you inhabit the world of engineering this is maybe a name you are familiar with, but we had never heard of them . Bring on Google and Wiki !

It seems that  DMG Mori Seiki AG (formerly Gildemeister AG) is a German mechanical engineering company and machine tool builder with its HQ in Bielefeld, Germany, some 450 kms north of Stuttgart.  It is a leading manufacturer of machine tools and their controls (such as computer numerical control). Their products include lathes, milling machines, machining centres, and mill-turns. OK so we don’t know what the exact meaning of that lot is but they are a certainly a big operation with 12 factories located in Europe and Asia. One of our team seems to recall reading somewhere that they are connected with Porsche in some way, hence maybe the sponsorship deal.

Dr. Rüdiger Kapitza, the chairman of the executive board of DMG Mori, said: “DMG Mori represents tradition, precision and technological leadership on a global scale and, therefore, fits perfectly well with Porsche’s values and high technological standards. We are looking forward to a strong and fruitful partnership.”

Another sponsor is Chopard watches. It all began in 1860 in the small village of Sonvilier, Switzerland. Here Louis-Ulysse Chopard, a talented young craftsman, established his workshop. By virtue of their precision and reliability, his watches quickly gained a solid reputation among enthusiasts and found buyers as far afield as Eastern Europe, Russia and Scandinavia. Nowadays they remain renowned for their creativity, state-of-the-art technology and the excellence of its craftsmen, it became one of the leading names in the high-end watch and jewellery industry.

Also supporting Porsche are their long term oil suppliers Mobil One, a familiar name to anyone having visited a petrol station recently.