Orange, Toyota and Foster's are battling it out for the right to
take over from Texaco as the £5m-a-year sponsor of ITV's Formula
One coverage.
The three companies are understood to have submitted sealed bids to
Granada Enterprises over the past few weeks. A decision on the winner is
expected soon.
All three contenders al-ready have strong links to F1. Foster's branding
appears at Grand Prix circuits around the world and the lager brand also
sponsors ITV's F1 web site; Orange is the title sponsor of the Arrows
team; and Toyota is entering the sport next year with its own team,
sponsored by Panasonic.
It is thought the new sponsor will have the rights to both the broadcast
and online coverage.
Texaco has backed ITV's coverage of F1 since the channel won the
broadcast rights from the BBC in 1997.
It is reported to have paid about £4m a season for the package,
which includes regular sponsorship idents during programmes hosted by
Jim Rosenthal.
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