Brawn GP Continues Partnership with Ray-Ban

Brawn GP have managed to secure another financial partnership for the remainder of the 2009 season. It was more of an extended partnership actually, as sunglasses company Ray-Ban has committed to continue sponsoring the Brackley based team throughout the ongoing season. The aforementioned company had partnered the defunct Honda Racing team in the past, and decided to maintain their sponsoring over Brawn's team despite the management buyout earlier this year.

However, the revised deal will not worth as much as the old one – estimated by SportsPro financial magazine at $2.5m – as Brawn GP will only receive $500,000 for the upcoming 14 races. However, the estimated sum to enter Brawn GP's pockets will increase significantly if the deal is extended from 2010 onwards.

“We are delighted to be continuing our partnership with Ray-Ban for their sixth season of involvement in Formula One. We have enjoyed a close relationship with Ray-Ban since they joined the team during the 2004 season and look forward to continuing our work together. Jenson, Rubens and the team are all fans of Ray-Ban’s distinctive styling and we hope our partnership will continue to allow Ray-Ban to reach the global Formula One audience and benefit from its association with the sport and our team,” said Brawn GP CEO Nick Fry in a press release.

“We are extremely pleased that we will continue to share the Brawn GP team’s passion and energy in Formula One. We are especially delighted to renew this partnership with our Ray-Ban brand, the global leader in sunglasses and optical frames,” added Antonio Miyakawa, Executive Vice President Wholesale & Marketing of Luxottica Group.

The signing of the new Ray-Ban deal comes only a few days after Ross Brawn secured another financial partnership for 2009. According to several sources, the signing of Swiss foreign exchange trading company MIG Investments – days before the Chinese Grand Prix – for the upcoming 3 seasons will bring Brawn GP an estimated $1.5 million.