Offshore Challenges hook Renault

Ellen gets to sit in a Formula 1 car

At the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday, Renault UK announced they have joined the Offshore Challenges Performance Partner team as 'Official Vehicle Supplier' making the leading car manufacturer the twenty-first official partner to Ellen MacArthur's Sailing Team.

Renault are already a leading player in the world of Formula 1 motorsport and an association with the OC Sailing Team brings together two sports that run at the leading edge of technology. Both the Formula 1 Grand Prix cars and the grand prix style racing boats used by the Sailing Team are made using similar materials and components, such as, carbon - a high-tech composite that is light but extremely strong. Wind tunnel testing is also used extensively by both sports.

"Going out on the ocean in a state-of-the art racing machine is pushing the limits just like Formula 1 Grand Prix - it is an endurance event for both the drivers and vehicles alike."

The announcement was made at Silverstone when Ellen attended the F1 Grand Prix and met with the Renault team including their drivers Jarno Trulli and Fernando Alonso, Philippe Talou-Derible, Renault UK Managing Director and F1 Technical Director, Mike Gascoyne, who enthused about the shared technological efforts of both sports and the possibility of working together on a technical front in the future.

Philippe Talou-Derible, Renault UK Managing Director commented: "The challenges Ellen and her team set for themselves are also to be the best at what they do and if that means looking beyond the conventional then that's what they'll do. I think what Ellen and her team achieve and what we have achieved with New Espace shows we share the same challenging spirit and I'm delighted Renault is their choice of vehicle during their time on land."

Ellen was given the opportunity to sit inside the spare F1 car just moments before the start of the Grand Prix: "It is pretty compact in the drivers cockpit - even for someone like me and in stark contrast to the new Renault Espace's that we are driving!" said Ellen. "Renault look at doing things in a slightly different way to the rest - an ethos we share at Offshore Challenges and it's awesome that they are now a Performance Partner supporting Nick Moloney, Sam Davies and myself - the three pro sailors in our team."