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Certina becomes a partner of the FIA World Rally Championship

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January 2013


There has been some jockeying for brand positioning as the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) gets under way this week. In the same week that rally’s brightest star, Sébastien Loeb, was announced as a new ambassador for Richard Mille, signalling a further expansion of the French brand’s motorsport associations, the Swatch Group’s Certina was announced as the new official partner and timekeeper of the WRC.

Rally sport is not unfamiliar territory to the Le Locle based brand, which was a partner of the late Colin McRae and Petter Solberg from 2002-2005 and has been associated with motorsport since the 1970s. This new partnership perfectly complements the brand’s involvement with Formula 1 as a partner of the Swiss Sauber Formula 1 team (with whom the brand this week confirmed a continuation of the partnership which is now in its ninth year). Furthermore, it will help to cement Certina’s market-leading position in the Scandinavian countries, where rallies are particularly popular.

The World Rally Championship (WRC) is the top-ranked rally racing series and is organised by the FIA. It currently consists of thirteen rallies on three continents. FIA President Jean Todt welcomed the new partnership, saying, “As the Official Timing Partner, CERTINA will ensure fans and competitors alike will be able to follow the competition on the stages throughout a rally weekend, starting with the prestigious Rallye Monte-Carlo on January 15th.”