Vertu Partners With Birmingham City Foundation For BTCC Livery Reveal
Team VERTU has taken the wraps off its challenger for the 2025 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship season in a special event held alongside Birmingham City Football Club’s Foundation.
The event saw official motor retailer Vertu, operator of Bristol Street Motors dealerships, bring together two of its West Midlands partners in a celebration of young talent, as the local EXCELR8 team made the short trip from its workshop in Droitwich to reveal the new-look BTCC race car at Wast Hills; the training base for both the Birmingham City Football Club Women’s team and the Club’s various Academy sides.
Wast Hills hosts the fixtures in the Vertu Primary Schools Cup, a competition that was launched in February for Under 11 teams from across the West Midlands - providing an opportunity for children to access Birmingham City Football Club’s first-rate training facilities and to develop their skills within a team environment.
The Vertu Primary Schools Cup will culminate in a Finals Day in May where the competing players will follow in the footsteps of their heroes by taking to the pitch at the St. Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park stadium.
On arrival at Wast Hills for the latest qualifying games, the competing teams were greeted by the mysterious sight of two covered cars sitting in the middle of the playing surface.
As intrigue grew amongst a growing crowd of youngsters in attendance, the various team captains were invited to step forward and join Team VERTU drivers, including Tom Chilton and Championship winner Tom Ingram, in pulling the covers off the 2025 car, revealing the striking new racing livery for the season ahead.
The primarily teal livery featuring hints of orange, white and blue is sure to be one of the stand-out designs on the 2025 grid, incorporating vibrant design elements part of Vertu’s rebrand, which can now also be seen across their wider sporting partnerships.
Once the cars had been revealed and moved pitch side, so that match action could get underway, youngsters were able to use the downtime between games to spend time looking around the race-winning machines, and also to quiz both Ingram and Chilton about life as a driver in Britain’s premier racing series.
To close the exciting morning, all children received a ‘party bag’ of merchandise from Vertu, including complimentary tickets for their families to come and see the racing team in action during the Season Opener at Donington Park next month.
Ingram and Chilton, both of whom go into 2025 with their eyes firmly fixed on fighting for the title, will be joined in the four-strong Team VERTU line-up for this season by team newcomer Adam Morgan.
Tom Ingram, Team VERTU Driver, said: “The livery reveal is always one of the most exciting moments of the off-season as everything feels more real when you see the car in its colours for the first time – particularly when it looks as good as it does!
“As we go into a new season as Team VERTU, it was great to showcase the new livery for the first time with the kids competing in Vertu’s Primary Schools Cup. Seeing them getting excited about the reveal was fantastic, and hopefully the experience has created some new fans who will cheer us on to success this season!”
Tom Chilton, Team VERTU Driver, said: “Revealing the new livery alongside children playing in the Vertu Primary Schools Cup has been a great experience, particularly when they had no idea it was going to happen! Seeing the excitement on their faces was fantastic, and putting smiles on faces is a big part of what the BTCC is all about.
“With the change to Team VERTU for 2025, we always knew that the livery would be different for this season, and I’m a big fan. Every year I say that the first thing you want as a driver is for your car to look fast, and with the new colours, it looks very quick!
“Having been able to go out and get some testing under our belts before Christmas, I feel we are good shape going into the new season. On the back of a positive year in 2024, I’m looking to bring home more silverware for Team VERTU during the new campaign.”
Justina Williams, Team VERTU Team Owner, said: “Our relationship with the Vertu and Bristol Street Motors brands, part of the Vertu group, has gone from strength to strength. We are incredibly excited to enter the 2025 season as Team VERTU.
“In recent years, we have had one of the best-looking cars on the grid, but I feel the new livery is the greatest one yet, and will allow us to really stand out on track as we battle for the title.
“Launching the livery alongside Birmingham City Football Club’s Foundation has been a fantastic way to showcase our racing programme to a new audience, and it would be amazing if it helped inspire some of the youngsters involved to become fans of the team, or even take up a career in the automotive industry! There are so many opportunities we want to inspire them with.”
Robert Forrester, Chief Executive of Vertu, said: “As a company, we are proud to promote the next generation of talent through our various apprenticeship programmes that span nationwide, and it’s fantastic that the launch of Team VERTU for 2025 has allowed us to bring together two valued partners who share our drive to champion young talent.
“Along with what we do as a company that has strong ties to the West Midlands, Birmingham City FC’s Vertu Primary Schools Cup and EXCELR8’s Team VERTU in the BTCC give youngsters across the region some fantastic opportunities to showcase their skills, and to grow in their careers thanks to the various programmes they have in place.
“The livery reveal is the latest phase of an exciting era for us as a brand, and we look forward to cheering on Team VERTU to another successful year on track.”
Antony Isherwood, Birmingham City Foundation Director, said: "Our partnership with Vertu has been about creating unique opportunities. Playing at the training ground for the opportunity to walk out at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park is one thing, but for the children to be part of the reveal of a British Touring Car; I cannot think of anything more unique than that!
"We want to say a huge thank you to Vertu for letting us be a part of this, but most importantly, a massive thank you to the children who made the reveal so special."