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Motor sport team support by rock groups

Started by Magee , Aug 27 2003 23:21

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73 replies to this topic

#1 Magee

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Posted 27 August 2003 - 23:21

In 1979, former grand prix driver Ian Ashley of England was running Formula Atlantic in a car supported by the rock group Jethro Tull.
What other rock groups supported teams in motor sport back in the 70's? Were any Formula 1 teams sponsored by rock groups?

#2 D-Type

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Posted 27 August 2003 - 23:57

Slim Borgudd who raced an ATS in the early 80's was Abba's drummer and it could be argued that Abba paid for his drive.

Pre pop music, Johnny Claes was a dance band leader and Guiseppe Campari was an opera singer of sorts

#3 Gary C

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Posted 28 August 2003 - 01:15

I have photograghs from a race meeting at Brands Hatch from the mid-70's where each car (it seems) was sponsored by a different record company. Present were Anchor Records, DJM, Swan Song and a few more that I can't immediately remember....

#4 David McKinney

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Posted 28 August 2003 - 05:15

Brett Riley ran under the colours of Starz in the 1978(?) British F3 series

#5 Tim Murray

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Posted 28 August 2003 - 05:27

Ken Hensley of Uriah Heep had his own racing team - Ken Hensley Racing - running (IIRC) in FF2000 in the mid-seventies.

#6 ensign14

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Posted 28 August 2003 - 06:03

There are sometimes one-off deals in NASCAR - last year Derrike Cope ran a couple of races in a car sponsored by godawful hair band Poison.

This year some of the DEI cars are running in special schemes for the Dale Earnhardt Foundation Concert with bands pictured on the bonnets. Country acts IIRC.

There's a separate thread of musical racers, which will also assist, in that (say) Marty Robbins sponsored his own car.

And not forgetting BTCC outfit Team Atomic Kitten...

#7 Henri Greuter

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Posted 28 August 2003 - 06:19

One year in the late eightties Roberto Morena ran at indy in a Five Star sponsored car, alwasy wondered if that teferred to the group of the same name that was rather popular dfor a while.

Henri Greuter

#8 Frank de Jong

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Posted 28 August 2003 - 07:10

Jermaine Jackson sponsored a Rondeau in IMSA IIRC.

#9 Paul Newby

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Posted 28 August 2003 - 07:34

INXS sponsored a Suzuki Swift GTI in the Suzuzi Swift Cup in the early 90's. They've come back (yes, they still exist without Michael Hutchence) to sponsor Mark Noske's Falcon XR8 in the Aussie V8 Supercars Championship this year.

Now wasn't there a Led Zeppelin sponsored McLaren M8F in the early '70s. Recently for sale and mentioned somewhere on TNF?

#10 theunions

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Posted 28 August 2003 - 07:59

Originally posted by Henri Greuter
One year in the late eighties Roberto Moreno ran at indy in a Five Star sponsored car, always wondered if that referred to the group of the same name that was rather popular for a while.

It was '86 for Galles, sponsored by "FiveStar (one word) Marketing," whatever that was. Does anyone know? I assume it was something New Mexico-based as that figured prominently in the paint scheme.

Posted Image

I've never heard of the band, one word or two.

#11 ensign14

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Posted 28 August 2003 - 08:01

Originally posted by theunions

I've never heard of the band, one word or two.

You're lucky, sort of a British Jacksons, 3 sisters & 2 brothers doing horrid soul-disco in the mid 1980s. "System Addict" and "Rain Or Shine" were their biggest hits.

#12 petefenelon

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Posted 28 August 2003 - 10:28

Motley Crue sponsored an Indy Lights (or it might've been ARS back then) team in the late 80s/early 90s.

There's the Led Zeppelin-sponsored McLaren, which was recently up for sale on Ebay!

Not quite a group but Steve O'Rourke's EMKA entries were usually supported by record company EMI for which he worked ;)

#13 bill moffat

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Posted 28 August 2003 - 10:58

..once again not a group but musical.."Fridays" night club sponsored a privateer Brabham (initially a March?) during the mid 70's. Will check when I get home but was it Loris Kessel's John MacDonald run BT44 ?

#14 ghinzani

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Posted 28 August 2003 - 11:06

Originally posted by petefenelon
Motley

Not quite a group but Steve O'Rourke's EMKA entries were usually supported by record company EMI for which he worked ;)

as he is of course manager for The Pink Floyd - who are very much car and old plane nuts themselves.

#15 ensign14

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Posted 28 August 2003 - 11:09

Didn't Mason used to spin a line that 'EMKA' stood for Energising Music through Kinetic Action or some such?

And it had NOTHING to do with his daughters' names being EMma and KAtie?

Or am I dreaming again?

#16 Vrba

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Posted 28 August 2003 - 11:16

Originally posted by bill moffat
..once again not a group but musical.."Fridays" night club sponsored a privateer Brabham (initially a March?) during the mid 70's. Will check when I get home but was it Loris Kessel's John MacDonald run BT44 ?

On similar note, Patrick Tambay was sponsored by Paris night club Moulin Rouge.

Hrvoje

#17 2F-001

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Posted 28 August 2003 - 11:51

I think the RAM Racing (John MacDonald) March-Cosworth GA run in F5000 for Alan Jones was sponsored by ''Tuesdays'' nightclub rather than Fridays. I didn't remember the Brabham though...

Then there was the ''Ronnie Scott's Club'' Group 2 Escort for Pete King (Scott's business partner??) and AN Other. But we are straying off topic now...!

#18 petefenelon

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Posted 28 August 2003 - 12:01

Originally posted by 2F-001
I think the RAM Racing (John MacDonald) March-Cosworth GA run in F5000 for Alan Jones was sponsored by ''Tuesdays'' nightclub rather than Fridays. I didn't remember the Brabham though...

Then there was the ''Ronnie Scott's Club'' Group 2 Escort for Pete King (Scott's business partner??) and AN Other. But we are straying off topic now...!

I thought the March was Thursdays!

Ronnie Scott's are still involved in motorsport sponsorship - Gavin Pyper had some Ronnie Scotts backing for his BTCC campaigns -- on his Production class GA Motorsport Alfa last season, and on his GA Astra this year until his money ran out. Very good driver and seems a nice bloke - deserves a works BTCC drive more than the likes of Chilton IMHO!

#19 2F-001

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Posted 28 August 2003 - 12:17

Ah, yes! Thursdays! I concede...
(Slinks away in shame... ) :cry:

#20 David McKinney

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Posted 28 August 2003 - 12:36

Originally posted by ensign14
Didn't Mason used to spin a line that 'EMKA' stood for Energising Music through Kinetic Action or some such?

And it had NOTHING to do with his daughters' names being EMma and KAtie?

Or am I dreaming again?

As his daughter's names are Chloe and Holly, I think it even unlikelier :lol:

#21 LittleChris

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Posted 28 August 2003 - 12:37

Didn't Gary Numan have some sponsorship involvement at one point ?

#22 bill moffat

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Posted 28 August 2003 - 12:43

What about The Kinks and Lola ?

#23 Svend

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Posted 28 August 2003 - 14:54

Some 3 years ago there ran an Aerosmith sponsored car in the Indy500. The same Indy500 where Steve Tyler sang the National Anthem. Not to mention it was hair raising (can be interpreted both ways ;)).

#24 ghinzani

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Posted 28 August 2003 - 15:21

Originally posted by LittleChris
Didn't Gary Numan have some sponsorship involvement at one point ?

Mike Maconnachie was it? A liverpudlian who raced a RT3 in 83 or 84 I think. Something to do with Numans love of airplanes IIRC.

#25 theunions

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Posted 28 August 2003 - 15:31

Originally posted by petefenelon
Motley Crue sponsored an Indy Lights (or it might've been ARS back then) team in the late 80s/early 90s.

Was this Vince Neil's attempts at driving in '92 with Norm Turley's PIG team, or independent of that?

#26 theunions

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Posted 28 August 2003 - 15:42

Originally posted by Svend
Some 3 years ago there ran an Aerosmith sponsored car in the Indy500. The same Indy500 where Steve Tyler sang the National Anthem. Not to mention it was hair raising (can be interpreted both ways ;)).

This was in 2001 for Jeff Ward and the short-lived Heritage Motorsports, specifically at Indy and Texas to advertise their new album. The car qualified for the 500 in the team's standard silver unsponsored paint job, and the sponsorship deal was announced Carb Day morning.

Posted Image

Later in the year, the car reappeared with new decals over the same paint job, but it just said Heritage Motorsports.

Then for Chicagoland, the team appeared bearing the graphics of John (Cougar) Mellencamp, whose song was widely used in IRL TV advertising that year (his wife was then a paid celebrity spokesperson for IRL and I believe still does that in a reduced capacity).

Posted Image

#27 Garagiste

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Posted 28 August 2003 - 15:47

Again it's oblique but Williams had sponsorship for the "Blues Brothers 2000" movie for a short while, I'm guessing in 1999.

#28 LittleChris

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Posted 28 August 2003 - 15:57

Originally posted by ghinzani

Mike Maconnachie was it? A liverpudlian who raced a RT3 in 83 or 84 I think. Something to do with Numans love of airplanes IIRC.

I must admit I thought the involvement was earlier and with the Aurora series. Didn't Maconnachie have sponsorship from Saudi Arabia ?

#29 dolomite

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Posted 28 August 2003 - 16:10

Originally posted by D-Type
Slim Borgudd who raced an ATS in the early 80's was Abba's drummer and it could be argued that Abba paid for his drive.

http://8w.forix.com/borgudd.html

Posted Image

#30 Ron Scoma

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Posted 28 August 2003 - 18:29

Perhaps not a "rock group" in the current sense.... let's not forget the great Billy Cotton.

I think that AC/DC does some vintage racing these days.

Ron Scoma

#31 Mila

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Posted 28 August 2003 - 18:50

Originally posted by bill moffat
What about The Kinks and Lola ?

right--they introduced the transverstite gearbox.

#32 Vrba

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Posted 28 August 2003 - 19:00

Originally posted by Ron Scoma
Perhaps not a "rock group" in the current sense.... let's not forget the great Billy Cotton.

I think that AC/DC does some vintage racing these days.

Ron Scoma

Brian Johnson is known car enthusiast....

Hrvoje

#33 ghinzani

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Posted 28 August 2003 - 19:54

Originally posted by LittleChris

I must admit I thought the involvement was earlier and with the Aurora series. Didn't Maconnachie have sponsorship from Saudi Arabia ?

defo f3 in a ralt rt3, I have a picture somewhere in Autospurt. I think he may well have been sponsored by Saudi airlines too...

#34 LittleChris

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Posted 29 August 2003 - 10:16

Originally posted by ghinzani

defo f3 in a ralt rt3, I have a picture somewhere in Autospurt. I think he may well have been sponsored by Saudi airlines too...

Sorry I was confusing things. I meant that I thought Numan's involvement was during the Aurora era. I agree McConnachie was F3 in the early 80's. I also seem to remember he had quite a well rated team mate but can't remember who which is frustrating !!

#35 Viss1

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Posted 29 August 2003 - 12:44

Originally posted by bill moffat
What about The Kinks and Lola ?

Originally posted by Mila
right--they introduced the transverstite gearbox.

Good job, men.

#36 Option1

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Posted 29 August 2003 - 13:08

Originally posted by Viss1

Good job, men.

Girls will be boys and boys will be girls
It's a mixed up muddled up shook up world except for Lola

Neil

#37 Barry Boor

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Posted 29 August 2003 - 17:22

I remember seeing a Formula Ford car, at Silverstone back in, I guess the 1980s, sponsored by Hot Chocolate. I may be wrong but I suspish that the driver was of Afro-Carribean origin.

The car was painted a mass of different colours but I clearly remember a big Malteser (spherical chocolate covered honeycomb sweet - for the uninformed!) on the airbox. I think the then current new album from the group featured that design on the cover.

But then maybe I'm dreaming the whole thing!!!!

#38 No27

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Posted 29 August 2003 - 18:09

The eightie's glamour/avant garde Brittish band Japan, now defunct, still gives name to the last Grand Prix of the year.

Unpaid!

#39 Alan Lewis

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Posted 29 August 2003 - 20:15

Sonic Racing, by and for Matt Aitken of Stock, Aitken and Waterman, purveyors of absolute c**p for far too many years.

Yours etc.,

The only Ian Hunter fan on TNF.

APL

#40 David M. Kane

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Posted 30 August 2003 - 11:55

I have had the pleasure of racing several times with Randy Johnson's Thursday's March. It sounds great and looks even better. It is a REALLY
pretty car that is maintained to an extremely high standard. He runs it in the BOSS Series here in the States.

#41 RTH

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Posted 30 August 2003 - 12:34

Originally posted by Alan Lewis
Sonic Racing, by and for Matt Aitken of Stock, Aitken and Waterman, purveyors of absolute c**p for far too many years.

Yours etc.,

The only Ian Hunter fan on TNF.

APL

This was really Matt Aitken's project mostly in Formula Ford in the late '80's/early 90's

Peter Waterman owned a number of racing cars including a 1000 BHP Arrows - Megatron (BMW ) - and he used to own "The Flying Scotsman " pacific class steam locomotive.

If you think their music had limited appeal - have you tried to watch "Top of the Pops" lately ?

#42 Alan Lewis

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Posted 30 August 2003 - 14:02

Originally posted by RTH
If you think their music had limited appeal - have you tried to watch "Top of the Pops" lately ?

I didn't say anything about limited appeal, I just said it was crap.

I stopped watching TOTP in early 1981 when "Vienna" by Ultravox, one of the great tracks of the decade, was kept off Number One for three straight weeks by the appalling Joe Dolce.

APL

#43 RTH

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Posted 30 August 2003 - 18:30

I do have to admit that is logic no one can argue with .

#44 petefenelon

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Posted 30 August 2003 - 19:46

Originally posted by Alan Lewis

I didn't say anything about limited appeal, I just said it was crap.

I stopped watching TOTP in early 1981 when "Vienna" by Ultravox, one of the great tracks of the decade, was kept off Number One for three straight weeks by the appalling Joe Dolce.

APL

Wasn't Dolce in the same Australian GP-supporting celeb race as Clive James, once?

pete

#45 ghinzani

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Posted 30 August 2003 - 21:02

Originally posted by Alan Lewis
Sonic Racing, by and for Matt Aitken of Stock, Aitken and Waterman, purveyors of absolute c**p for far too many years.

Yours etc.,

The only Ian Hunter fan on TNF.

APL

Matt was a fat boy, suprised he used to fit in those VD's and FVL's - friendly little team tho - wasnt it stuart jackson in the other ff IIRC?

A Hunter fan eh? I worked for 3 years on shift with Phil Holbrook, do you know him? Massive Hunter fan - had a very good website about the great man, used to take his holidays to co-incide with Hunter tours. Hunter didnt tour this year, some problem with the drummer, so Phil didnt know what to do with himself!!

#46 Jesper O. Hansen

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Posted 30 August 2003 - 23:51

What about the Led Zeppelin-McLaren

From memory I remember this car has been mentioned on this forum before, but somehow not mentioned on this thread. The ca. 1971 purple McLaren M8, that ran in various Interseries events.

#47 petefenelon

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Posted 31 August 2003 - 01:44

Originally posted by Jesper O. Hansen
What about the Led Zeppelin-McLaren

From memory I remember this car has been mentioned on this forum before, but somehow not mentioned on this thread. The ca. 1971 purple McLaren M8, that ran in various Interseries events.

Your mention was the third on this thread, Jesper!

pete

#48 Alan Lewis

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Posted 31 August 2003 - 10:54

Originally posted by ghinzani
A Hunter fan eh? I worked for 3 years on shift with Phil Holbrook, do you know him? Massive Hunter fan - had a very good website about the great man, used to take his holidays to co-incide with Hunter tours. Hunter didnt tour this year, some problem with the drummer, so Phil didnt know what to do with himself!!

Don't know him but I know of him and we've stood in the same room or bar on many occasions. I got into Hunter in the immediate post-Mott The Hoople years of the mid-seventies, mostly because we're both Shropshire Lads - local band, etc. Having moved to the North East in the early nineties, I only tend to see him in Newcastle these days.

Ian's drummer is Steve Holley (ex-Wings, Elton John,...) and he was touring with DAR Williams in the spring and early summer, which is when Hunter usually comes back to Britain. Steve's also recently released his own solo album ("The Reluctant Dog", plug, plug). Obviously, people said to Hunter, "why don't you get another drummer this year", but he's very happy with the band he's got and would rather wait until they can all tour together. Steve's sister works for the same airline as me, which helps with getting into gigs obviously. Small world innit?

Right, that's taken us nicely off thread...

APL

#49 MCS

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Posted 31 August 2003 - 20:03

Really not sure about the Led Zeppelin McLaren (I don't remember it at all), but Led Zep's record company - SwanSong Records - did back Bob Arnott's Formula Three efforts in 1975 in his second-hand March 743 (an old Ippokampos car I think - but my memory may be wrong here...)

He ran out of money and the last time I saw him he had hired his transporter (!) to some Spaniard F3 driver for the British GP F3 support race at Silverstone in 1977...

Since then, who know...?

Arnott was considered very talented in those days and, by my reckoning at least, he was.

But did Led Zeppelin/SwanSong sponsor after Bob Arnott...?

MCS

#50 ensign14

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Posted 31 August 2003 - 20:37

Watching the Southern 500 the commentators said that there was some sort of concert tie-in at Richmond, cars are running with special paint jobs - bands like Staind, Hootie & the Blowfish and Third Eye Blind are going to be portrayed on some of the Chevys (some of the schemes are on jayski.com). If you haven't heard of any of these bands, you are not missing out.

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Motor sport team support by rock groups

#1 Magee

#2 D-Type

#3 Gary C

#4 David McKinney

#5 Tim Murray

#6 ensign14

#7 Henri Greuter

#8 Frank de Jong

#9 Paul Newby

#10 theunions

#11 ensign14

#12 petefenelon

#13 bill moffat

#14 ghinzani

#15 ensign14

#16 Vrba

#17 2F-001

#18 petefenelon

#19 2F-001

#20 David McKinney

#21 LittleChris

#22 bill moffat

#23 Svend

#24 ghinzani

#25 theunions

#26 theunions

#27 Garagiste

#28 LittleChris

#29 dolomite

#30 Ron Scoma

#31 Mila

#32 Vrba

#33 ghinzani

#34 LittleChris

#35 Viss1

#36 Option1

#37 Barry Boor

#38 No27

#39 Alan Lewis

#40 David M. Kane

#41 RTH

#42 Alan Lewis

#43 RTH

#44 petefenelon

#45 ghinzani

#46 Jesper O. Hansen

#47 petefenelon

#48 Alan Lewis

#49 MCS

#50 ensign14

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