Remington Joins United Autosports Team

FIA GT3 European Championship Entry to Promote Famed Shaver Brand

ZIONSVILLE, IN (December 18, 2009) – Remington shavers, a lead brand of
Atlanta–based Spectrum Brands will be a sponsor of the debut United Autosports race team, it was announced today.  The American-owned team operating from the U.K. will place prominent Remington Shaver signage on one of its two factory assisted Audi R8 LMS race cars.   

The entry to be co-driven by United Autosports co-owner American Zak Brown and Pablo Perez Companc will prominently carry the Remington brand logo on its upper door and nose.  Driver and crew uniforms, select team race equipment and marketing materials will likewise incorporate the Remington brand.  Beyond signage, Remington is afforded team-provided trackside hospitality for its guests and the right to feature the race team and its drivers in advertising and promotional materials.

“As an American consumer, I’m personally familiar with the quality and popularity of Remington shavers,” said Brown. “I’m looking forward to applying the assets of the United Autosports team to promote the Remington shaver line across Europe.”

The United Autosports affiliation is not the first Remington sponsorship foray in sports car racing. The brand had previously backed a Cadillac race team in North America’s SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge.

“In general, FIA GT racing is a highly evolved and sophisticated type of racing,” stated Brown.“It features many of the world’s legendary sports car manufacturers and attracts premium quality brands as sponsors.  Given that positioning, and the growing popularity of the GT3 series across Europe, Remington shavers will enjoy a highly viable platform to effectively reach new consumers within its target audience.”

ABOUT UNITED AUTOSPORTS

United Autosports is a U.S.-owned professional auto racing team and motorsports development business based in Yorkshire, England. In 2010, United Autosports features a two-car Audi R8 LMS team in the FIA European GT3 series and single-car Ginetta Cup entry. It will additionally prepare and field a fleet of historic racecars for Historic Motorsports Productions “Legends of Motorsports” events in North America.

ABOUT SPECTRUM BRANDS, INC.

Spectrum Brands is a global consumer products company and a leading supplier of batteries, shaving and grooming products, personal care products, specialty pet supplies, lawn & garden and home pest control products, personal insect repellents and portable lighting. Helping to meet the needs of consumers worldwide, included in its portfolio of widely trusted brands are Rayovac(R), Remington(R), Varta(R), Tetra(R), Marineland(R), Nature's Miracle(R), Dingo(R), 8-In-1(R), Spectracide(R), Cutter(R), Repel(R), and HotShot(R). Spectrum Brands' products are sold by the world's top 25 retailers and are available in more than one million stores in more than 120 countries around the world. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Spectrum Brands generates annual revenue from continuing operations in excess of $2 billion.

Twin Audi attack is planned for British GT opener

With three months to go before the 2010 Avon Tyres British GT Championship blasts off, the touchpaper has been lit by the new United Autosports team and its plans to field a brace of factory assisted Audi R8 LMS racers in Easter Monday’s opening rounds of the series.

The Anglo-American team’s exciting news has been revealed by United Autosports’ co-owner and managing director, Richard Dean, who believes the Oulton Park rounds of the UK’s most prestigious sports car series will provide an ideal testbed for his new team and its German chargers.

“Our plans for 2010 centre on the FIA GT3 European Championship, and Oulton Park will be an ideal warm-up event for us,” says Dean. “The competition in British GT is always fierce and Oulton is the sort of demanding circuit that will provide the ideal test for United Autosports’ maiden outing.”

On the driving strength will be team co-owner Zak Brown, 37, an experienced sports car hand and chief executive of the world’s largest motorsport marketing agency, Just Marketing International. Another of the team’s four seats will be filled by Argentine ace Pablo Perez Companc, a former South American F3 Champion and Ferrari sports car racer.

The Audi R8 LMS was a star of FIA GT3 in 2009, Phoenix Racing drivers Christopher Haase and Christopher Mies clinching the drivers championship thanks to their R8’s three race victories and several additional podium finishes.

“The Audi proved itself as a major contender in Europe last season and we have every reason to believe that it will be a race winner again in 2010,” says Dean. “United Autosports may have a very American flavour but the team is Yorkshire based and it will be great for a British-based team to give the Audi its maiden outing in the British GT Championship.”

Among the opposition planning to line up at Oulton to give the Audis a run for their money will be the race-winning MTECH team with its Duncan Cameron/Matt Griffin Ferrari 430 Scuderia, and two Ferrari 430 Scuderias from Chad Racing. Several other new and established teams are planning major post-Christmas announcements of their plans for the championship.

“British GT and all its classes – GT3, GTC and GT4/Supersport – is looking very healthy for 2010,” says the new Avon Tyres British GT Championship manager Benjamin Franasovicci, “and Oulton Park is going to be all the more exciting for the arrival on the grid of the United Autosports Audis.”

Championship promoter SRO has announced an eight-date, 14-race calendar for 2010, including a season-closing ‘into the night’ race at Donington Park and a two-hour endurance round on the Grand Prix circuit at Silverstone.

The championship is sponsored by Avon Tyres and is further supported by motorsport insurance specialist AON, by Sunoco Racing Fuels and by Anglo American Oil Company.

America's United Autosports FIA GT3 Team Launched

AUDI CUSTOMER TEAM COMBINES U.S. MARKETING AND U.K. TECHNICAL RESOURCES

ZIONSVILLE, IN (October 2, 2009) – Pending formal FIA approval, the 2010 FIA GT3 European Championship is expected to feature a notably American accent through the newly launched United Autosports race team, it was announced today. The team will field two factory-assisted Audi R8 LMS racecars, according to co-owner and driver, American Zak Brown.

Brown, 37, is hardly a stranger to international motorsports. He raced his way across Europe in multiple open wheel series during his twenties. He has since become a renowned international racing insider as the founder and CEO of U.S.-based Just Marketing International (JMI), the world's leading motorsports-exclusive marketing agency. United Autosports' on-track efforts will be supported with JMI's full-service resources, applied principally to promoting the team's sponsors on both sides of the Atlantic.

For Brown, the return to competition on Europe's legendary road courses is literally a dream come true.

"I wasn't much beyond a kid when I first came to Europe," recalled Brown. "No bankroll for racing, no sure prospects. I lived hand-to-mouth, saw the Old World and raced on legendary circuits. I matured as a driver and a businessman through those experiences. Now, returning as owner of a new well-prepared team is magic."

"In creating United Autosports there were a number of different series we considered," said Brown. "FIA GT3 was an easy choice as it is respected, well-run and offers fierce competition among many of the world's prestige performance car brands. Beyond that, it provides a nice runway for upward migration to FIA GT1 or the LeMans Series."

Brown's first order of business was the creation of the team itself. For that, he turned to long-time friend and previous driver teammate, Britain's Richard Dean. As United Autosports' co-owner and Managing Director, Dean, 44, is the chief architect of the team's preparation and execution on and off the race track. In addition to a distinguished career as a driver, including single-seaters, saloon cars and GT cars, Dean has additionally served as managing director of Ginetta Cars, the largest volume racing car manufacturer in Great Britain. A former winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans as a driver (GT2, 2006), he has also served as the Director of Zytek Engineering, a Le Mans Prototype chassis manufacturer and suppliers to the F3000 series.

"My role is quite simple," said Dean. "Put in place a soundly-organized racing operation with a mind toward future expansion. Knowing Zak Brown for a long time and watching what he has created in the motorsports commercial space, I'm excited to have the opportunity to complement that by building a similar caliber racing enterprise."

According to Dean, United Autosports will first focus on the FIA GT3 series, but in time will consider other opportunities in motor racing, including running an initially limited schedule of events in vintage racing events in North America.

"Given our start-up position, we are very fortunate to be aligned with Audi," he said. "Their sports car racing heritage is legendary and their premium global brand position is complimentary to our own goals for United Autosports."

Adding to the race team's managerial depth is John Della Penna, who serves as Sporting Director. No stranger to personally fielding high-profile teams including in CART, IRL, and Ferrari Challenge among others, the veteran Della Penna will preside over various special projects for the team including vintage racing.

Also on the managerial team is John Hogan, who serves as Commercial Director. Throughout his lengthy motorsports career, Hogan has directly contributed to the development and professionalism of the modern motorsports industry. Hogan's experience includes 30 years at Philip Morris as Vice President, Marketing and Sales and directing the world's largest single-brand portfolio in racing, the "Marlboro Red" branding.

Along with producing a solid sponsorship base, Brown's priorities include securing top-shelf drivers for the remaining seats on the two-car team. To that end, he said he will have an especially keen eye for recruiting other American drivers, but mindful of securing the overall best available talent.

Besides Brown himself, another of the team's driver seats has been filled by talented Argentinean Pablo Perez Companc. A winning campaigner in both sports car and open wheel competition, Companc's career was temporarily side-lined after suffering substantial lower extremity injuries in a 2007 Firestone Indy Lights crash at Homestead Miami Speedway. Now recovered, he joins the team after recent successful forays in the Ferrari Challenge North American and Argentina's GT 2000 tours.


ABOUT UNITED AUTOSPORTS
United Autosports is a U.S.-owned professional auto racing team and motorsports development business based in Yorkshire, England. In 2010, United Autosports is expected to feature a two-car Audi R8 LMS team in the FIA European GT3 series.

ABOUT JUST MARKETING INTERNATIONAL (JMI)
JMI is the global leader in motorsports marketing. JMI leverages its insider knowledge, influence and relationships to deliver creative customized solutions to organizations that are looking for a differentiator through motorsports sponsorship to drive their business. JMI is an independent, full-service agency representing corporations in all forms of motorsports worldwide. With more than 125 staff globally, JMI operates six offices in four countries and manages over $300 million in annual motorsports investments. JMI's client list is comprised of leading corporations, some of which include Crown Royal, DIRECTV, Hilton Hotels, Johnnie Walker, Lenovo, LG Electronics, SUBWAY® Restaurants, UPS and Verizon Wireless, among others. JMI's clients participate in all major motorsports series, including NASCAR, Formula One World Championship, IndyCar Series, Grand-Am, NHRA, World Rally Championship, and the American Le Mans Series. For more information, please visit JMI on the worldwide web at www.justmarketing.com http://www.justmarketing.com.

Expert Perspective - Ecclestone, Ratel, Straube, Ullrich

Excitement is building around the announcement of a new American race team that will compete in the 2010 season, United Autosports. Here's just some of what racing's most celebrated leaders have to say about United Autosports:

I know firsthand the determination and drive American Zak Brown delivers to the commercial side of Formula One. Since he brings that same focus and intensity to bear in any enterprise, I'm confident his leadership and marketing skills will be of great advantage to his United Autosports race team.

Bernie Ecclestone
President and CEO
Formula One Management, Formula One Administration


The FIA GT series has long been synonymous with excellent racing among premium brands. The diversity among car manufacturers, drivers and teams is some of what makes our series of growing public and sponsor interest. Clearly, with its dynamic ownership and American cultural flavour, United Autosports promises to add to that. They are a most welcome addition to our sport and will only make the 2010 season even more engaging.
Stephane Ratel
President
SRO


For us as a manufacturer, it is important that our customer racers well represent the Audi brand both on and off the race track. With United Autosports we feel we have added a new customer team that will add to the long-running motor sport success of Audi. In terms of the FIA GT3 European Championship specifically, we expect good results for United Autosports in 2010 and beyond.
Oliver Straube
Audi R8 LMS Marketing and Sales


The customer sport program represents Audi Sport's third business field alongside our factory programs in the DTM and in sport prototypes. We welcome United Autosports as a new customer team running the R8 LMS from 2010 on.
Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich
Head of Audi Motorsport