America's Cup - Norauto confirms its commitment to Franck Cammas

by Norauto on 7 Jun 2017 A major sponsor of eliminated French America's Cup team, Groupama Team France have confirmed their commitment to campaign in the 36th America's Cup.

At his final media conference, after being the first team to exit the 35th America's Cup Franck Cammas hinted at a return provided there was no change in boat from the AC50.

Groupama Team France is one of the five signatories to the secret 'Framework' agreement which locks in the AC50 for the next two America's Cups, calls for the regattas to be held two years apart amongst other requirements.

In a media release Norauto has said that it is pleased and proud about its partnership with Franck Cammas’ team, and confirms its commitment to the 36th America's Cup.

Following two victories in the Louis Vuitton America's Cup Qualifiers in Bermuda. The result is not sufficient to enter the challenger semi-final, but the performance of Franck Cammas and his team was undeniably impressive, says the release.

They are a close-knit team with a small budget, but the boat has the potential to beat the competition giants, such as the Swedes or the English. This French campaign laid some quality foundations for the future. Norauto is committed to supporting two editions, so they already had a long-term vision and today, they confirm that the team can be assured of its support on the 36th America's Cup.

Norauto embarked on the quest for the America's Cup alongside Franck Cammas and his team fifteen months ago. The European leader in car maintenance joined the project as an official partner, entering one of the most demanding, and undoubtedly, the most technical, crewed sailing competitions. The oldest sporting trophy in the world is experiencing a real revolution with the advent of rigid-wing foiling boats, capable of reaching lightning speeds, which pave the way to bridge the gap between this discipline, aeronautics, and Formula 1.

In Bermuda, the French team began the competition as outsiders. Franck Cammas, winner of the Jules Verne Trophy, the Route du Rhum and the Volvo Ocean Race, was competing for the first time; flying the French flag, which has been absent from the competition for ten years. With a budget of almost five times lower than that of its competitors, Groupama Team France has approached its campaign with pragmatism and willingness to take on the best teams, to prepare themselves for the future, the release continued.

Thibaut Derville, member of the Norauto strategic committee and head of the America's Cup partnership for the brand:

“At Norauto, we are proud of the result of Franck (Cammas) and his team. This may seem surprising since we left the competition after qualifying but we knew that this was the first-time Team France was competing in the America's Cup. The French team are returning after a long absence and we could not expect to be in the final this time. On the other hand, the work that was done by the whole team paid off very well, as the team achieved victories against Artemis Racing and Land Rover BAR, against all predictions for Bermuda., We see the team progressing every day and performing as well as the best competitors.

We are perfectly aware that Franck had very little time to prepare, and we ourselves only came on board in February 2016. We also know that his budget was too small, but we are satisfied with the results. We are also very touched by this hard-working, calm, humble and cohesive team, where each person played their part: this is typical of Norauto’ DNA. The spirit of this team has left us all amazed.

At Norauto, there is a strong human-centred dynamic in our centres throughout Europe. We have come together with our teams to methodically explain the America’s Cup and to highlight the real parallels that exist with the way that our employees work., Norauto's brand exposure has been well beyond our expectations: this operation is making a clear contribution to building a prestigious brand.

‘We confirm our commitment to the 36th America's Cup alongside Franck Cammas' team, with absolutely no reservations. We know that by then they will have made further progress and we hope that other companies will come on board to enable us to work with the budget that is required for this competition”, the statement concluded.