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Castrol logo 2023

Location: Pangbourne, Berkshire, United Kingdom

Founder: Charles Wakefield

Founded: March 9th, 1899

Key People:

Michelle Jou (CEO)

More About The Manufacturer:[]

The "Wakefield Oil Company" was founded by Charles Wakefield in Cheapside, London in 1899. Wakefield had previously left a job at Vacuum Oil to start a new business selling lubricants for trains and heavy machinery. Eight Vacuum Oil employees joined Wakefield, and the company launched its first lubricant in 1906.

In early 20th century, Wakefield Co. developed lubricants especially suited for automobiles and aeroplanes. The brand "Castrol" originated after researchers added measured amounts of castor oil (a vegetable oil derived from castor beans) to their lubricant formulations. By 1960, the name of the motor oil had eclipsed the company's name itself so "CC Wakefield & Company" became "Castrol Limited". In 1966, Castrol was acquired by company Burmah Oil, which was renamed "Burmah-Castrol". Burmah-Castrol was purchased by London-based multinational BP (then, "BP Amoco plc") in 2000.

At the time of purchase, Burmah-Castrol had a turnover of nearly £3 billion with operating profits of £284 million. The company also had 18,000 employees worldwide, with operations in 55 countries. Respectively, BP Amoco had 80,400 employees worldwide and revenues of more than £63 billion.

While Burmah's operations folded into the group, Castrol has remained as a subsidiary of BP.

The brand has been involved in Formula One for many years, supplying to a number of teams, including McLaren (1979–1980 and 2017–present), Williams (1997–2005), Team Lotus (1992–1993), Brabham (1983–1984), Jaguar (2000–2004), Renault (2017–present) and Walter Wolf Racing.

Castrol has sponsored the Ford World Rally Team and M-Sport in the World Rally Championship since 2003, and the Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT factory team from 2016 to 2019. It has also sponsored Volkswagen Motorsport activities in the Dakar Rally and later the World Rally Championship since 2005. Audi Sport's activities in rallying and touring car racing have been sponsored by Castrol, as well as its Le Mans Prototypes program since 2011. BMW Motorsport was sponsored by Castrol from 1999 to 2014.

Toyota Motorsport GmbH had Castrol sponsorship in the World Rally Championship from 1993 to 1998, and Hyundai Motorsport did so from 2000 to 2002. Also, the Honda factory team at the World Touring Car Championship has Castrol sponsorship since 2012. In the All-Japan GT Championship, the TOM'S Toyota Supra and later the Mugen Honda NSX had Castrol sponsorships.

In North America, Castrol has been an active sponsor of NHRA drag racing. Castrol sponsored John Force Racing under the GTX brand from 1987 until the end of the 2014 season. Also, the All American Racers had Castrol sponsorship in the CART World Series from 1996 to 1999. In 2014, Castrol sponsored former Indy 500-winning IndyCar team Bryan Herta Autosport, with English rookie Jack Hawksworth behind the wheel.

Castrol is the name sponsor of Castrol Raceway, a multi-track oval, drag, and motocross racing facility in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Castrol is the sponsor of D.J. Kennington in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series and NASCAR Cup Series.

In Australia, between 1993 and 2005, Castrol was the title sponsor of V8 Supercars team Perkins Engineering. It also sponsored Longhurst Racing between 1995 and 1999, Ford Performance Racing between 2007 and 2009, and Paul Morris Motorsport in 2010. Since 2018 Castrol has been title sponsor of Kelly Racing driver Rick Kelly.Additionally, certain race events are also Castrol branded, such as the Castrol Edge Townsville 500 and the Castrol Gold Coast 600. Castrol is the title sponsor with Team Bray, owned by Australian drag car legend, Victor Bray for 17 years.

Castrol was the main sponsor of the Castrol International Rally in Canberra for more than 10 years between 1976 and 1986. The same was true for an International Rally held in South Africa, ending annually in neighbouring Swaziland. It was the most prestigious event on the South African rally calendar at the time, until Castrol ended its sponsorship of this event. Later only some competitors' cars were carrying the bright green and red colours of Castrol sponsorship in national rally events, notably the S.A. Toyota dealer team.

In 2019, Castrol extended their sponsorship activities by re-forming a partnership with Jaguar, this time supporting them in Formula E.

Castrol also briefly made an appearance in 1993 with Nissan in the British Touring Car Championship, where Keith O'Dor managed to win the 9th round of the season at Silverstone with his teammate Win Percy taking 2nd.

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