GTS Motorsport BMW in Gulf Oil livery
It would seem that CRT Lubricants managing director, Brent Esler, has fuel in his veins. The car enthusiast is not only involved with Gulf Lubricants, and working as chief executive officer for its parent company CRT Co-operative, he also campaigns for motorsport marketing and support company, GTS Motor Sport.
GTS Motor Sport imported a BMW M3 E36 into New Zealand, and the car has an impressive race history. It won the Group N VLN endurance race at the Nurburgring in 2000, and placed at the same location in races in 2001 and 2002. GTS Motorsport UK began to develop the car to Group A specification that same year, and further endurance campaign placings in Britcar events followed. Another win at the Nurburgring in 2003 solidified a successful Northern Hemisphere career. Now, the car will be making a mark its new home country, and has recently been campaigned by Mr Esler and co-driver Andy Neale in the ASKO South Island Endurance Series. The BMW, along with the Gulf GT40
CRT Lubricants has made official ties with GTS Motorsport in a partnership that heralds the beginning of yet another relationship between Gulf and Motorsport. As part of the affiliation, the BMW has been re-branded in Gulf Livery and GTS Motorsport is now managing and maintaining the Gulf replica GT40 that was brought to New Zealand by Gulf Lubricants.
CRT Lubricants Chairman, Joe Ferraby, thinks the partnership will be a beneficial one. “The board decided the presence of a Gulf branded BMW on race tracks would be an extremely visible and powerful opportunity to solidify the position of the Gulf brand in the New Zealand lubricants market. This is further enhanced by the presence of the Gulf branded transporter at events which is used to host clients at tracks around the country. Sponsoring the BMW also further aligns Gulf Lubricants with Gulf marketing throughout motorsport worldwide,” he said.