COCKER GETS COBRA BACKING

The Cobra Group plc is delighted to announce its support of Jonathan Cocker in the 2007 British GT Championship. Headed by 2006 British GT Champion, Chris Niarchos, the Cobra Group is a great backer of young motorsport talent, especially in the UK.

Cocker will compete for the 2007 British GT Championship title alongside Lord Paul Drayson in a stunning Aston Martin DBRS9, bearing the Cobra logo. He is no stranger to the Championship as he won it outright in 2004 when he was only 18 years old. He moved onto the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia in 2005 which is where his relationship with Cobra began; Appco Asia, a subsidiary of Cobra supported Jonny that year, and they were rewarded when he took another fine Championship victory.

Commenting on the new deal with Cobra, Jonny said: “Chris Niarchos and the Cobra Group have done a lot for me over the last few years and I am very grateful for their support.  Paul (Lord Drayson) and I will be a strong combination so we hope we can bring the title back for Cobra!”

Chris Niarchos' own racing programme is going international in 2007.  With the 2006 British GT title under his belt, the Cobra Chairman is racing a Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari 430 in the FIA GT Championship alongside new team-mate Andrew Kirkaldy.  The group still has a strong national focus though and Cobra's long-standing support of young driving talent in the UK goes from strength-to-strength with the formation of the AKA Cobra Formula Renault team and now the backing of Jonathan Cocker.

Chris Niarchos explains: “We're very happy to do this deal with Jonny as he has performed well for us over the years and it is important for us to have a strong foundation in British motorsport. The British GT Championship has long been a good hospitality platform for Cobra and with Aston Martin being one of the best British brands it fits very well with our objectives.  It's also exciting to be involved in something a bit new: the British Racing Green-liveried Aston Martin DBRS9 is rather uniquely running on Bio-Ethanol fuel so it will be green below the surface too.  I think Jonny will do the job for us this year; he's definitely the best GT3 driver out there so I'm really looking forward to some epic performances.”

Jonny is on track at Silverstone today for the British GT media day. Chris Niarchos' season starts next week in China where he will contest round one of the FIA GT Championship at Zhuhai.