Marelli Announces End of Impul Title Sponsor Deal

Marelli has announced that its title sponsorship deal with the Team Impul SUPER GT team will come to an end upon the conclusion of the current season.

The automotive parts company made the announcement on Wednesday, drawing the curtain on a 43-year association with the Nissan outfit that saw numerous Impul-run cars in SUPER GT, its predecessor the All-Japan GT Championship and the All-Japan Sports Prototype Championship run in the famous sky blue of Calsonic.

Marelli was created from a merger between Italian firm Magneti Marelli and Calsonic’s parent company Calsonic Kansei in 2019, but the iconic Calsonic colors remained on Impul’s cars until the end of 2023, with a darker shade of blue more in line with Marelli’s corporate identity being introduced for 2024.

Current Impul pair Bertrand Baguette and Kazuki Hiramine scored the final SUPER GT title for a Calsonic-liveried car in 2022.

Marelli’s statement said that the company will “focus its sponsorship activities on teams and governing bodies that use its technology” in the future, with its current agreement with Impul lapsing in February 2025.

Impul team director Kazuki Hoshino, the son of the squad’s founder Kazuyoshi, commented: “Our partnership with Marelli began in 1982, and has continued for 43 years through Nippon Radiator, Calsonic, Calsonic Kansei and now Marelli, providing us with great physical and emotional support.

“Marelli and Hoshino Racing (Team Impul) are tied together by bonds of deep trust and respect that cannot be described in terms of a simple business partnership, and these will never be lost even after the contract expires.

“We are proud of the path we have taken together and we will devote ourselves to our goals even further. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for this wonderful partnership and we wish you continued success.”