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Australia's Only Porsche RSR - Team VIP Petfoods' Passport To International Domination |
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Thursday, 24 May 2007 |
One of Australia’s most unique international marketing tools was officially unveiled at Queensland Raceway today in time for one of the world’s classic 24-hour motorsport endurance events.
The brand new state-of-the-art Team VIP Petfoods’ Porsche 991 GT3 RSR (Type 997) turned a wheel for the first time in the hands of team regulars Craig Baird, Tony Quinn, Klark Quinn and Kevin Bell in preparation for next month’s Nürburgring 24 hour classic.
The sophisticated machine, the only one of its kind in Australia, forms
the corner-stone in team owner and VIP Petfoods company director Tony
Quinn’s grand ‘brand promotion’ plan to take his Australian owned and
operated company into more international markets.
The new racing weapon produces more than 350kW (485bhp) at 8500rpm and
has a top speed in excess of 300kph, which makes it one of the fastest
cars to have ever tested at Queensland Raceway.
It is those impressive figures that Quinn and his team are hoping will
make them a serious outright contender at the Nürburgring against some
of the best endurance teams in the world.
Building upon the domestic success of VIP Petfoods as Australia’s
number one producer of fresh chilled petfoods, Quinn plans to use the
RSR to expand the team’s international race program, results and
exposure to place his brand in front of audiences world wide.
This plan will be further assisted by the fact that Team VIP Petfoods
is no stranger to the international spotlight, achieving a ninth place
in the Dubai 24-hour earlier this year and receiving international
recognition after finishing ninth outright in last year’s Nürburgring
24 hour, aboard the earlier model Porsche 991 GT3 Cup 996 Turbo.
Heading into its second assault on the prestigious European event in
two weeks, the team will be in serious contention for the podium this
time around with the use of the new car. The team will also campaign a
second Porsche 996 piloted by Paul Kelly, Sean Juniper, Max Twigg and
John Teulan.
“To take a team, and a company internationally with success, you need to have the right tools,” said Tony Quinn.
“Not only do they need to be the right tools, they need to be sharp, and they do not come any sharper than the RSR.
“The end goal of all this is to build the VIP Petfoods brand
internationally and it is working – our trip to Dubai earlier this year
saw us come home not only with another ninth but also with two
unsolicited product enquiries.
“If anything, this demonstrates what we are doing is feasible,
realistic and successful even at these relatively early stages, and
with the ultimate marketing tool on board, the RSR, it will only get
better.”
VIP Petfoods’ domestic success can be largely attributed to Quinn’s
clever use of motorsport to leverage his brand, with the VIP Petfoods
logo highly visible at the front of Carrera Cup, Aussie Racing Car and
Drift Australia fields and mixing it up with the leaders in enduros and
rallies across the country.
Built especially for long-distance racing, the RSR arrived in Melbourne
last week before undergoing a makeover in Peter Fitzgerald’s Melbourne
workshop.
Following today’s track debut, the car will begin its journey to
Germany on Monday to arrive in time for the European event, to be held
from June 7-10.
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