Members in Motorsport: Opening the Gates

OPENING THE GATES

2022 is set to be a banner year of motorsport for Gates Australia

Gates Australia recently announced its line-up of motorsport sponsorships for the coming 2022 racing season. After interrupted, cancelled and rescheduled rounds across the last two seasons, Gates has come out in 2022 with its largest sponsorship line-up in the company’s history in Australasia. The choice of Gates to participate in the motorsport scene is unsurprising. Afterall, as an automotive aftermarket parts manufacturer, motorsport aligns with the Gates product portfolio and brand. “A lot of race cars utilise Gates parts due to their quality, so motorsport represents the perfect opportunity to showcase our quality products,” Gates Managing Director Australasia, Rainer Wuenstel, said. “We enjoy the challenge of testing our products in extreme environments, and our involvement in many motorsport disciplines certainly pushes the limits of their performance.” As part of its bigger than ever 2022 campaign, Gates will be sponsoring Grove Racing, whose activities span a number of motorsport categories. Leading the way for Grove Racing is the Penrite Racing team which will compete in the 2022 Supercar Series with David Reynolds and newly signed driver, Lee Holdsworth. Grove Racing will also have rising star Matthew Payne competing in the Super2 series, with Matthew coming to Grove Racing as a karting star from New Zealand, holding various karting championships such as the KZ2 National Sprint Championship. After making his Super2 debut at Sydney Motorsport in 2021, the team has high hopes for Matthew this season. Gates is also the naming rights sponsor of the JKD Racing V8 SuperUte competing in this year’s V8 SuperUtes category. Team Director and driver Dean Brooking – who has experience in a variety of state-level events – is hoping the Toyota Hilux will give him every chance for success in his rookie season in the category. Gates will also be sponsoring Grove Racing Team Owner Stephen Grove, who will be competing in the Porsche Carrera Cup and Porsche GT Trophy Championship. Stephen debuted in 2011 at the Sandown state series and is a veteran driver with eight wins and 27 podium places. And that isn’t all. Gates, in association with its distributor Hydraulink New Zealand, is also sponsoring the Sullivan Racing Team’s 2014 Porsche Carrera GT3 Cup car in the South Island Endurance Series in New Zealand in 2022 and will continue as long-time supporter of Victor and Ben Bray and Jay Upton, some of the most iconic names in Australian drag racing. Gates Australia launched its 2022 motorsport sponsorship line-up with an event at the Gates Australia head office on Thursday the 17th of February, unveiling the new Toyota Hilux V8 SuperUte with its new livery with Gates as the naming rights sponsor. Gates Australia staff were first to see the new livery revealed and were able to take photos and see the V8 SuperUte up close. Dean Brooking even got behind the wheel and revved the Ute to demonstrate its impressive 6.2 litre LS3 V8 engine. Alongside Dean and the JKD Racing team, the staff also got to meet Gates-sponsored Penrite Racing drivers David Reynolds and Lee Holdsworth and after a BBQ luncheon, the staff had a Q&A with Dean, David and Lee, followed by autograph singing and photos with all of the drivers. This event is just one example of activations the motorsport program is making possible to the benefit of Gates Australia. “Aside from the obvious branding on the teams including cars, uniforms, event signage and so on, we really value the activations and access to teams and drivers that we benefit from as part of our partnerships,” Rainer said. “These allow us to create unique opportunities for our staff and customers, allowing us to really connect with them on a whole new level. “We are maximising these opportunities by creating a lot of advertising and commercials on television and radio where we have our sponsored drivers fronting the camera or the microphone. “We are also taking customers to track days and racing events, and to anything else the teams can offer to allow us to deliver one-of-a-kind experiences for our customers.” Gates – which will be exhibiting at the Australian Auto Aftermarket Expo – is a global manufacturer of innovative, highly engineered power transmission and fluid power solutions. Gates products are sold in 128 countries across our four commercial regions: the Americas; Europe, Middle East and Africa; Greater China; and East Asia and India. For more information, visit www.gatesaustralia.com.au