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2004 Renault R24

Renault launches the R24

The launch of the Renault R24 took place in the Teatro Massimo, in Palermo, Sicily with the French F1 team hoping that this year will be the year in which it begins to challenge the top Formula 1 teams.

'We must look to dislodge at least one of the teams above us in the championship,' said Renault F1 chairman Patrick Faure. 'Renault's targets for this year are, logically, placed higher, and in order to achieve them, absolute reliability will be critical. The correct steps were taken last year in order to ensure this, and we are confident we will attain this target.'

The R24 is a development of the R23 but features a completely new 72-degree engine. The centre of gravity of this engine is 20mm higher than that of the 111-degree V10 from last year and the engine is 360mm high rather than last year's 305mm but the team says that with all the other changes made in the packaging of the engine the centre of gravity of the car is not much higher than was the case last year and says that there have been many gains made in other areas, specifically reliability as the 111-degree engine suffered serious problems with vibrations. The engine is completely new but is based on the architecture of the old Supertec engines because Renault felt that it had the necessary information about 72-degree engines and could incorporate all the lessons learned from the wide-angled engine into the design. The decision not to go for an all-new 90-degree V10 was taken because there was not time to do all the calculation necessary and it was felt to be too ambitious a leap for the team to consider. There will be a new 90-degree engine in 2005.

The car is lighter than last year which means that the ballast used to bring the car up to the minimum weight limit has been places as low down in the car as possible. Renault is confident that the new car is an improvement on last year and hopes that other teams have not made bigger improvements. We will not know that, however, until the F1 troops gather in Melbourne in five weeks from now.

by Renault

by Renault

i-mode Sponsors Renault F1 Team

NTT DoCoMo, Inc. is pleased to announce that i-mode® has entered into a partnership with the Mild Seven Renault F1 Team. The Renault F1 Team's new R24 car for the 2004 season was unveiled today in Palermo, Italy, with the i-mode logo on the nose, bargeboards and rear wing endplates.

The Mild Seven Renault F1 Team has shown remarkable progress since Renault's return to the sport two years ago. With an audience of more than 200 million people for each Grand Prix, Formula One offers DoCoMo excellent opportunities for worldwide exposure. Moreover, the partnership provides a perfect fit for both sides. Both i-mode and Grand Prix racing are associated with innovation and high technology, and both Renault and i-mode are leading communicators and trendsetters in their respective fields.

DoCoMo's i-mode, the world's most popular mobile internet service, is expanding its international profile. Outside of Japan, i-mode services are currently available through partner operators in Germany, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Belgium, France, Spain and Italy. Greece will be added this year prior to the Athens Olympics.

The multi-year partnership, which begins with the 18-race 2004 season, is expected to further strengthen the i-mode brand through worldwide exposure.

About NTT DoCoMo

NTT DoCoMo is the world's leading mobile communications company with more than 47 million customers. The company provides a wide variety of leading-edge mobile multimedia services. These include i-mode®, the world's most popular mobile internet service, which provides e-mail and internet access to over 40 million subscribers, and FOMA®, launched in 2001 as the world's first 3G mobile service based on W-CDMA. In addition to wholly owned subsidiaries in Europe and North America, the company is expanding its global reach through strategic alliances with mobile and multimedia service providers in Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America. NTT DoCoMo is listed on the Tokyo (9437), London (NDCM), and New York (DCM) stock exchanges.

by NTT DoCoMo

by Renault

Renault launches today

The Renault Formula 1 team decided for some odd reason to launch its new car in Palermo, Sicily. The Italian authorities are happy to turn a blind eye to tobacco rules so long as teams pay a small fine so there is some logic in launching in Italy but having the unveiling 1000 miles from Milan makes little sense, particularly when the new car has already been seen running in testing in Barcelona. The team will unveil its latest livery which will feature continued backing from Mild Seven and Elf with additional sponsorship from Telefonica and additional sponsorship from the Guru clothing company.

The R24 is the work of the same group of engineers who built last year's car although the new 72-degree engine is a big change. Since the car was designed however Mike Gascoyne and John Iley have both left the team, although their departures will probably not hit the team fully until the 2005 car appears.

by Renault

by Renault