Driver Hire received the 'Spa' treatment last weekend, thanks to its equity investment backers LDC. LDC, an investor in the Marussia F1 Team, provided the franchise with the opportunity to display the company logo on the nose of the Marussia F1 Team cars for the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix.

Chris Chidley, Driver Hire's chief executive, said of LDC: “Their decision to invest in Driver Hire in 2011 was a major vote of confidence in our business and its potential. This kind of opportunity is a real benefit of being part of the LDC family of companies.” 

Based in Banbury, the Marussia F1 Team is one of the newer teams in the F1 World Championship. The team races in a distinctive red and black livery with drivers Timo Glock from Germany and Charles Pic from France.

“Seeing their brand feature on the global stage through initiatives like this is something Driver Hire franchisees and staff can be proud of and helps reinforce the credibility of their business,” said Tony Norwood of LDC. “We were delighted to be able to give Driver Hire this opportunity.”

As for the race itself, Spa saw the Marussia F1 Team take another clear step forward. Whilst the team isn’t yet ready to challenge the established leading names in Formula One, team principal John Booth was very positive: “We have shown another legitimate step with our upgrades, thanks to the hard work by the team back in Banbury and also our partners at Cosworth. I’m sure we can continue to see more of this steady progression forward.”