Martini Racing

Martini Racing is the name under which various motor racing teams race when sponsored by the Italian company Martini & Rossi, a distillery that produces Martini vermouth in Turin. Martini's sponsorship program began in 1968. The race cars are marked with the distinctive dark blue, light blue and red stripes on white, red or silver background body cars. The car most representative of this team (the one that has won the most titles) is the Lancia Delta HF Integrale.

Sports car racing

Martini's first sponsorship program happened at the 12 hours of Sebring in 1962 with an Alfa Romeo SZ Tronica, but it had no Martini sticker or logo on it, only written "Martini Racing Team".

The two key individuals at the start of Martini Racing's grand adventure were Paul Goppert, head of publicity and public relations for Martini Germany, and his close friend Hans Dieter Dechent, a racing driver specializing in endurance races who ran an Opel dealership at Sarrebrucken.

At the start of 1968, advertising unrelated to racing was permitted for the first time on the bodywork of racing cars. Paul asked Hans Dieter to place a few stickers on his car in exchange for overalls and similar equipment.