America's Cup Partnership Between Oracle, BMW to End

In its eighth year, BMW has elected to end its partnership with ORACLE Racing and its involvement with the America's Cup. BMW has partnered BMW ORACLE Racing since 2002.

The German automaker contributed more than a traditional partner, assisting in the engineering and construction of the Oracle boat. In February the yacht USA 17 won the 33rd Match with a resounding 2:0 victory off Valencia, Spain.

"On the design and engineering front, BMW engineers set new benchmarks in terms of intelligent lightweight design," said Ralf Hussmann, General Manager BMW Sports Marketing and Brand Cooperation. "In winning the 33rd America’s Cup, we achieved all of our ambitious goals. We will continue to be involved in the sport on a national level."

"The America’s Cup combines a technological challenge with a sporting one and success is measured by the result on the race course,” added Russell Coutts CEO of BMW ORACLE Racing. "In that sense, both the team and BMW are proud that our collaboration resulted in victory."