By pitpass.com (03/12/2003)
December 3 2003

Today's confirmation that Renault has signed a long-term partnership deal with Japanese mobile telecommunications giant NTT DoCoMo is sure to be bad news for Lucky Strike BAR Honda. Our spies tell us that the long-term deal between NTT DoCoMo and BAR announced at the 2002 German GP is about to be ditched in order that the Renault partnership is fully exclusive.

At the time of the the BAR deal team principal David Richards welcomed his new partners saying: "I am honoured to welcome DoCoMo to the team as a Technical Partner. Both parties are genuinely excited at the prospect of working together. DoCoMo can contribute considerably to the development of telecommunications solutions for both the car and the team.

"In return, DoCoMo will benefit from open access to a state-of-the-art application of that technology and, of course, an excellent marketing and promotional opportunity."

Clearly the Japanese giant doesn't see it quite the same way and has opted to go with the Anglo-French outfit that finished fourth in this years' Constructors' Championship.

This article was written by pitpass.com and is used with permission.