ING Renault F1 Team launches 2007 R27 Car

ING Renault F1 Team launches 2007 R27 Car

January 25, 2007

    AMSTERDAM, Netherlands and LONDON, Jan. 25
/Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- The ING Renault F1 Team officially
launched the ING-branded R27 2007 F1 car to over 600
journalists from the international media in Amsterdam
today.  

    (Photos:
http://xprnnews.xfn.info/ING/20070125/HK076121A.htm
            
http://xprnnews.xfn.info/ING/20070125/HK076121B.htm
            
http://xprnnews.xfn.info/ING/20070125/HK076121C.htm
            
http://xprnnews.xfn.info/ING/20070125/HK076121D.htm )

    ING CEO Michel Tilmant, ING Renault F1 Team President
Alain Dassas and Managing Director Flavio Briatore unveiled
the car together with drivers, Giancarlo Fisichella and
Heikki Kovalainen, as the ING Renault F1 Team begins its
2007 season challenge.

    Following ING's announcement of the three year
sponsorship with the Renault F1 Team in November, the team
is now referred to as the "ING Renault F1 Team"
with immediate effect

    Through the title sponsorship, ING will further build
its global brand awareness as one of the leading global
financial institutions providing Banking, Insurance and
Asset Management services to over 60 million customers in
50 countries across the world.  With a global audience of
over 850 million, across a broad demographic and with ING
active in 15 of the 17 countries hosting Grands Prix, F1
offers an unrivalled opportunity to bolster ING's global
brand. ING will also support the ING Renault F1 Team title
sponsorship with a targeted advertising and marketing
campaign. 

    2007 sees the debut of Heikki Kovalainen, widely
regarded as one of the upcoming F1 talents, together with
Giancarlo Fischella, in his third year with the team.
Giancarlo and Heikki will form a highly competitive team
combining upcoming talent and proven race ability. They
will be supported by test-drivers Nelson Piquet Jr and
Ricardo Zonda.

    Michel Tilmant, Chairman of the Executive board of ING
Group, said: "Our Formula 1 programme is a global
sponsorship initiative which will help us to enhance the
awareness of one unified ING brand worldwide."
explained Mr Tilmant. "Formula 1 is currently the best
platform for a global sponsorship programme, as it has the
potential to reach a broad customer base. We chose Renault
for its track record as a high-performing team. We are
convinced that teaming up with the Renault F1 Team fosters
our objectives of encouraging teamwork, instilling a
performance culture and permanent progress. I am confident
that the ING Renault F1 Team will remain highly competitive
in the coming years. I wish the team a lot of success in the
coming season".

    ING Renault F1 Team Managing Director Flavio Briatore
said: "This is no year of transition for the ING
Renault F1 Team. We have always said that the team is what
matters, and that success comes from the team spirit that
unites us. 2007 is a fantastic opportunity to prove exactly
that. There are some big changes for this season, not just
at Renault but throughout the grid. We believe in our
choices, and we are confident that they will help us
achieve more success in 2007. It will be a year of tough
competition at every level. Those are the conditions that
allow the best teams to shine. And that is exactly what we
intend to do."

    ING is a global financial institution of Dutch origin
offering banking, insurance and asset management to over 60
million private, corporate and institutional clients in 50
countries.

    With a diverse workforce of over 115,000 people, ING
comprises a broad spectrum of prominent companies that
increasingly serve their clients under the ING brand.


    For more information, please contact:

     Tony Wong
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]


SOURCE  ING