JUNE 5, 2000

SAP to sponsor United States GP

THE German software company SAP has agreed a multi-year deal to sponsor the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis.

THE German software company SAP has agreed a multi-year deal to sponsor the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis. SAP is the world's fourth largest software company and a sponsor of the McLaren team. It employs over 20,000 people in 50 countries and is trying to increase its presence in the United States.

All 200,000 reserved seats for the race have already been sold and the only tickets remaining are general admission. The event is likely to be the biggest crowd at an F1 race in modern history, although the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring in the 1970s regularly attracted 250,000 people.

The deal between SAP and Indianapolis is expected to be worth around $6m a year to the Speedway which is already predicting that it will make a profit on this year's race to help to pay off the enormous investment it has made to create an infield road course in the course of the last 18 months.