Team Barracuda – BHA Celebrates Opening Weekend & Announces Gumball 3000 Partnership |
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Topics: Alex Tagliani, Gumball 3000, Indianapolis 500
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Monica Hilton
Bryan Herta Autosport
May 13, 2012
Indianapolis, IN – Opening Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway proved successful for Team Barracuda – BHA, both on and off the track. While driver Alex Tagliani shook down the Barracuda Networks sponsored car and it’s newly installed Honda power plant, the team announced a new partnership for the Indy 500 with Gumball 3000.
Gumball 3000 is a combination of art, automobiles, music and film to create a unique aspirational lifestyle brand. Headed by Maximillion Cooper, the Gumball 3000 group now operates eight companies with offices in Europe and the United States. With a pioneering spirit and an attraction that transcends social barriers, the Gumball 3000 mission is to build a global lifestyle brand of the future.
The partnership is a perfect fit for Team Barracuda – BHA. The team’s focus on strength, stability and performance blends well with Gumball 3000′s tradition-challenging approach to exploring creative boundaries.
“Having the Gumballers in the Team Barracuda – BHA garages on Indy 500 race weekend will be phenomenal,” said team owner Bryan Herta. “The lifestyle brand of Gumball 3000 with the fast cars and star power of the Indianapolis 500 is a winning combination. It should be an exciting weekend for everyone involved.”
The Gumball 3000 logo will be prominently displayed on the No. 98 Dallara DW12 during the 96th running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. In addition, the Gumballers will accompany the car out to the grid before the start of the historic race.
Until then, Tagliani and his Team Barracuda – BHA crew will work to prepare for Pole Day, May 19, 2012, when the Canadian driver will look to defend the pole position that he earned last year.
For Tagliani, the first two days of practice went well. After day one, he said, “The car feels good and it’s great to be back with the Honda family again. It’s almost like we never left. Basically, this was kind of like the first, real oval test that we’ve run and I was quite surprised how quickly we got up to speed and how quick the car was right away. I’m very excited to see where we can stack up as we try to get a run for the Pole. I have a great engineer and great group of guys behind me, so I’m definitely looking forward to the month of May here in Indy.”
A week of media events and fan activities will follow qualifications, culminating at the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, taking place on Sunday, May 27 at 12 p.m. ET.