Bristol Street Motors secures title sponsorship for the Virtual Grand National

By Matt de Prez

9 April 2021

Bristol Street Motors will sponsor this year’s Virtual Grand National and Grand National Race of Champions, as part of an exclusive deal.

The business will be credited as sponsors within ITV’s coverage of the races on April 9-10.

The Virtual Grand National is a computer-simulated version of Aintree's world-famous steeplechase. It uses computer-generated imagery (CGI) to recreate, as accurately as possible, all aspects of the race such as the course layout and National fences.

The programme will first air on ITV4 at 8pm on Friday April 9, and 1pm on Saturday April 10 on ITV and ITV Hub.

Robert Forrester, chief executive of Bristol Street Motors, said: “This is a significant opportunity to put Bristol Street Motors at the forefront of a major televised sporting event.

“The Virtual Grand National and Race of Champions have captured the public’s imagination over the last few years as well as raising huge sums of money for charity through the generosity of everyone involved.”

In 2020 the Virtual Grand National, which replaced the actual race due to Covid restrictions, saw peak viewing figures of 4.8m and a 30% share of viewing media. Highlights and news attracted an additional 12m viewers, with major coverage across all TV channels.

Social media interest is also expected to be large, with a reach last year of more than 25m. This year it will complement coverage of the actual race, which is being held at Aintree, albeit without a crowd.

Vertu Motors’ Bristol Street Motors and Macklin Motors have also renewed their sponsorship of Channel 4's coverage of Formula One. While Vertu Motors has signed two-year partnership deals with Yorkshire and Durham County cricket clubs.

Forrester added: “Sponsorship is an exciting form of marketing that reaps significant rewards and awareness. The partnership with Channel 4’s coverage of F1 has been very successful and we expect this link up to be equally effective in driving brand awareness for Bristol Street Motors.”