Motorsport
The brand has been involved in Formula One for many years, supplying to a number of teams, including McLaren (1979–1980 and 2017), Williams (1997–2005), Team Lotus (1992–1993), Brabham (1983–1984), Sauber (1994-early 1995), Jaguar (2002–2004), Renault/Alpine (2017–2025), Audi (2026 onwards) and Walter Wolf Racing.[13]
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.[14] BMW Motorsport was sponsored by Castrol from 1999 to 2014.
Toyota Motorsport had Castrol sponsorship in the World Rally Championship from 1993 to 1999, and Hyundai Motorsport did so from 2000 to 2002. Also, the Honda factory team at the World Touring Car Championship had Castrol sponsorship from 2012 to 2020.[15]
In the All-Japan Grand Touring Championship(JGTC), the 1997 championship-winning TOM'S Toyota Supra[16] (famous from the Gran Turismo series by Polyphony Digital) 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.[17] Castrol is the sponsor of D. J. Kennington in the NASCAR Canada Series and NASCAR Cup Series.[18]
In Australia, Castrol has a long history with the Supercars category, and between 1993 and 2005, Castrol was the title sponsor of Perkins Engineering. It also sponsored Longhurst Racing between 1995 and 1999, Ford Performance Racing between 2007 and 2009, and Paul Morris Motorsport in 2010.[19] In conjunction with a multi-year series sponsorship, between 2014 - 2016 several race events acquired Castrol naming rights including the Castrol Edge Townsville 500 and the Castrol Gold Coast 600.[20] Castrol was the title sponsor of 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 11 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[21] and also NASCAR Cup Series giants RFK Racing-Ford since 2020 season due to Ford's commercial relationship with BP plc.
Castrol also briefly made an appearance in 1993 with Nissan in the British Touring Car Championship,[22][23] where Keith O'Dor managed to win the 9th round of the season at Silverstone with his teammate Win Percy taking 2nd.[24]
