Multiple British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) title-winning team Triple Eight have rebranded ahead of the new season and will now be known as Triple Eight Racing.
The team, who are about to head into a fourth year with works MG backing, have decided to change their name and logo for the forthcoming season, adopting a more minimalist and modern appearance.
The rebranding has been instigated by co-owner Lee Mowle and Communications Manager James Warnette in an attempt to reinvigorate the brand for commercial marketing to prospective partners and sponsors.
Mowle acknowledged that the team had suffered from an ‘identity crisis’ in recent years, having been known by several names whilst Jason Plato, who has departed the team, was racing for them. The first two years of MG backing saw the team known as ‘MG KX Momentum Racing’ before they switched to the convoluted ‘MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save’ name for 2014.
“While touring car liveries will always be dictated by key sponsors, this branding was an important exercise for the team to go through to ensure we look respectable off-track as well as on it,” explained Mowle. “We recognise the heritage behind the original logo and our goal was to connect to the past but also include elements of an evolution.
“On track Triple Eight has suffered somewhat of an identity crisis in recent years, with team names changing annually based upon the requirements of drivers, partners and such like. That’s not going to change too much, but what we wanted to do was bring about some level of consistency to our operation and ensure we were more easily identified, be it a BTCC weekend or a Blancpain (Endurance Series) weekend.
“We were also aware that our original logo had had a good run and the term ‘Race Engineering’, while still accurate for many tasks undertaken by the business, no longer accurately reflected our modern day role as a race team. The level of engineering input has become quite restricted and specialised in the modern era and is now strictly governed by tight technical regulations.”
The team’s original Triple Eight name originated when team founders Ian Harrison, Roland Dane and Derek Warwick tried to entice an Asian manufacturer to go racing. With the number eight believed to lucky in the Far East, it was settled upon as the name. Despite being unsuccessful in their attempts to lure an Asian brand to go racing, the name remained.
Warnette acknowledges the importance of a complete package being offered by a modern race team.
“It’s hugely important for the team,” said Warnette. “Globally, top race teams are now offering more than just race car preparation to a driver. Marketing, PR and event-based activation is all part of the deal if required. We’re confident it will be received well, but some sceptics will say, ‘if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it’, but the standards of presentation in motorsport increase year on year, and you can’t present to a sponsor with an out-dated brand. This isn’t just about 2015; it’s about the next ten to twenty years too.”
The team will unveil their new website on Monday 12th January 2015.