Jeddah Corniche Circuit

SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX

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February 04, 2001
Ladies and Gentleman may I introduce The Head Of Team RaceBase Mr. Dave Harland.

"The 2001 season is looming and here at Team RaceBase the cogs keep on turning to produce a car to seriously challenge for the VW Championship. This year at RaceBase we have a new focused team of Drivers and engineers that will make a headlong dash for the championship. We have pushed the finances to the limit this year with the addition of a new wind tunnel here at the team H.Q. where testing has been paramount, all of the staff have been working 14 hour days as well as overnight shifts so I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank them for their efforts and they are all cordially invited to The British GP at Silverstone in July and to the after race party which is set to be a scorcher."

"On the whole we as a team came into the VWC in mid season and to have only completed 9 races our 8th place in the Constructors Championship to us was a milestone in the teams success."

"I would like to welcome aboard our new sponsors for the 2001 Season - MasterCard, who have gone out to bat for us this year with massive financial aid to bring the Team to the top of the grid or at least as close as we can get. I would also like to thank MasterCard's M.D. Iowna lottacash for the clearance of Peter Visschers credit card Balance it really meant a lot to his Bank Manager . What does a major Sponsor Like MasterCard mean to the Team?"

The ability to restructure the whole Team

The ability to carry on with our Engine Supplier

The ability to have "In house" manufacturing processes

The Means to have on site wind tunnel facilities

The Means to employ the best Engineers and Technicians available

The Means to renew all of our transport fleet from utility vehicles to the car transporters ECT.

Now a word from The M.D. Of MasterCard Mr. Iowna Lottacash First of all on behalf of MasterCard.

"I would like to say that we are proud to be involved this year with team RaceBase. We have watched closely for the last year as to which Team we would like to be involved with and without hesitation I can say that Team RaceBase stood out from the crowd. We were impressed with the overall organisation of the Team, the commitment of the workforce to get last year's car to 8th place in the constructor's championship and that is no mean feat for a new Team to achieve in such a short period of time. I hope that our Partnership with the Team will be fruitful, as I know that it won't be for the want of trying. In conclusion I would like to wish Dave Harland and all of the Team from the ground upwards, all the very best of luck with the coming season. Thank you".

Back to Dave Harland:

"We have decided to go with Mugen-Honda for a second year as we felt that in the 2000 season their reliability was wonderful and I believe we only had one engine fail in 2000 and that was in a warm up session. The commitment to the team from Mugen-Honda in the 2000 season was a testimonial to the company's strength and awareness to the Teams needs. The new engine promises to be a force to be reckoned with in 2001 it is up on power and is lighter that last years engine and without giving too much away to my mind one of the best on the grid for this season."

"With the advent of the new Mugen-Honda engine we needed a fuel that was going to be in keeping with the engine technology, so, we have decided to go with Elf fuel for this season. The Companies past glories speak for themselves so there is no need to go over them here."

"This seasons tyres will be supplied once again by Bridgestone, they served the Team well in 2000 and I see no reason why that should change in 2001".

"I would now like to introduce you to our Drivers:

11th place in the driver's championship Number 1 Driver, Peter Visscher From Holland

14th place in the driver's championship Number 2 Driver, Larry Karam From Canada"

Peter Visscher:

"Thank you to MasterCard Team RaceBase for the opportunity to drive again in 2001, and to MasterCard for clearing my credit card balance. The 2000 Season was hard fought and with an ownership change at the beginning of the season the Team did extremely well to finish 8th in the Constructors Championship it was a privilege for me to have been part of that and I thank the Team for their confidence in me to ask me to drive again in 2001."

"My winter training schedule has been intense and I am totally focused on the coming seasons racing. I have the full backup of the Team as always and I am sure that together we will have a very successful partnership and I am really looking forward to those podium positions that I have promised myself this year."

Larry Karam:

"This will be my second Season with RaceBase and I'm looking forward to once again working with the team in only their second season in VWC Racing. Over the past season there were a few teething problems in the first few races but then towards the end of the season things started to come together for me and I was running in midfield but scoring points for the team so I was pleased with the way the season was going. Now, with the new set-up we have at the team I am a lot more confidant, my race engineer and myself have gotten to know each others ways so I'm sure that this year will be the one where you shall see me either in the top 6 or on the rostrum."