Martini Racing and sponsorship in motorsport

Until the mid 1960s, a small number of drivers and teams were sponsored by, for example, fuel brands, tire manufacturers, and other suppliers.

Large commercial sponsors hardly existed. This changed in 1968 when Colin Chapman persuaded an English cigarette brand to invest money in his Lotus racing team. Initially it was called the Gold Leaf Team Lotus and later John Player Special. The traditional racing colors, which had made it so easy for spectators to identify the countries of origin, disappeared. In their place came loud advertising on everything connected with the team. Enthusiasts were not pleased.

After Formula 1, the other racing classes also started bringing in sponsors that were not directly associated with motorsport. One of these was Martini and Rossi, a drinks manufacturer from Italy. Critics did not like the idea of a producer of alcoholic beverages sponsoring racing. Tobacco products were still acceptable at the time, but over the years people have changed their views on that as well.

One thing that sponsorship brought with it was that the starting grid looked a lot more colorful than in previous years. Even the placement of the car numbers was subordinate to the sponsor messages. The name recognition of the main sponsor became more important than the name of the original team.

Initially, Martini sponsored the team of Freiherr Karl von Wendt. Karl von Wendts close ties with Porsche were enough to make the switch to Porsche. At that time, the team of the legendary John Wyer raced (factory) Porsches with sponsorship from the American oil company Gulf. Porsche took part in the world championship long distance or endurance races under the name Porsche Osterreich. This team became the fortunate recipient of Martinis sponsorship funds. The drivers, including our compatriot Gijs van Lennep, were experienced Porsche racers.

The cars of the time, the Porsche 917Ks, were decked out in the very colorful and recognizable Martini livery. The victories came quickly, with the highlight being the win by Van Lennep/Marko in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1971. The distance covered during that race (and therefore the average speed as well) still stands as a record, more than 40 years later! Why, you may wonder. Since then, the circuit has been changed!

After many successes in long distance races, Martini started looking at other opportunities in motorsport and ended up at Tecno from Bologna. Tecno was a very successful manufacturer of Formula 2 and 3 cars and had made plans to enter Formula 1 in the 1972 season. To this end, they had built their own 12 cylinder 3 liter boxer engine. The chassis was also of their own making. With Derek Bell and Nanni Galli as drivers, success seemed guaranteed. Reality turned out differently. The car was too heavy and not competitive. The following year, even with Chris Amon behind the wheel, things were not much better and the partnership came to an end.

In 1974 Bernie Ecclestone managed to bring Martini on board as a sponsor, allowing his Brabham Formula 1 team to be decked out that year in the famous Martini colors. Initially the team performed well, scoring several high finishes. In 1976 they abandoned the proven Cosworth DFV engines in favor of a 12 cylinder boxer engine developed by Alfa Romeo. A new car was needed, like all the others designed by Gordon Murray, the South African born designer of Brabham.

It turned out to be a very handsome car, both in terms of equipment and appearance, but it also proved to be on the heavy side. The successes failed to materialize and Martini switched to Lotus in 1979. Decked out in Martini colors, the Lotuses that had been very fast in previous seasons looked very attractive, but for unclear reasons the aerodynamics of these cars did not work optimally. The poor season prompted Martini to quit Formula 1 at the end of that year.

Blood is thicker than water, and before long, in 1981, they began supporting Lancia in endurance racing. Lancia achieved numerous successes. Lancia pulled out—perhaps as a result of the (too) frequently changing regulations—and turned its attention to the increasingly popular rally sport, and Martini joined in.

This was where the greatest successes were achieved, including world championships with various versions of the Lancia Beta and Delta. After four individual championships and even more constructors titles, Martini turned off the money tap in 1992. It had been the longest and most successful partnership, and both brands had gained great popularity. One of the people who, alongside the drivers, was responsible for Lancias successes was Cesare Fiorio. After Lancia had withdrawn, he spent some time as team principal of Ferraris Formula 1 team.

The period when Lancia was active in rallying is seen by some as one of the most beautiful eras. This was the time of the rise of the so called Group B cars. At their peak, the Audis, Peugeots and Lancias all had four wheel drive and produced more than 500 hp. The performance of these cars was phenomenal, but the speeds they reached made things extremely dangerous. The fatal accident of Henri Toivonen marked the end of the legendary Group B. The Lancia ECV2, which can be seen at the Martini exhibition in the Louwman Museum, came too late to be put into competition.

In the end, Martini did not completely withdraw from motorsport and moved on to yet another discipline, touring cars, this time with Alfa Romeo. Initially this was a national affair, but when Alfa Romeo made the switch to the prestigious DTM, Martini went along. The Alfa Romeos could not stand up to the German entries. Alfa Romeo did continue to participate, but without Martini colors.

A number of years ago, a modest Martini sticker appeared on the nose of the Ferrari Formula 1 team cars, almost lost among Ferrari's many other sponsors!

Nowadays there is sponsorship in the Porsche Cup. Recently it was announced that for the 2014 season Martini and Rossi will sponsor the Williams Formula 1 team.

Peter Helbach

Want to see more of Martini Racing? We now have a temporary exhibition featuring no fewer than 16 Martini Racing cars. Visit the Louwman Museum soon and buy all your tickets online now.