Eurosport Events Limited, the promoter of the FIM Endurance World Championship, is delighted to announce TAG Heuer as the Official Timing Partner of the FIM EWC, three weeks after it revealed a similar alliance for the FIA World Touring Car Championship.

While TAG Heuer’s origins date back to 1860s Switzerland, Eurosport Events’ collaboration with motorcycling’s world governing body, FIM, is in the early stages of an exciting journey, with the Paris-based company being appointed EWC promoter ahead of the 2015 season.

However, Eurosport Events has already made great strides in revitalising the championship and its dynamism through an extensive broadcast push and calendar reform. And the EWC’s partnership with TAG Heuer is another example of what can be achieved when two innovative, forward-thinking organisations work in unison.

The EWC encapsulates the essence of TAG Heuer’s #dontcrackunderpressure campaign as the world’s best endurance bike racers team up against the clock for events lasting between 8 and 24 hours. Just like TAG Heuer, EWC riders face down every challenge, push past it and never quit.

TAG Heuer’s decision to partner with the EWC stems from the company’s desire to be faithful to its DNA as a motorsport timekeeper, a function it pioneered more than five decades ago. But the partnership goes much further and will result in the creation of dedicated EWC online content based on the #dontcrackunderpressure tagline, trackside branding and on-event activation programmes. 

“At the same time we were engaging TAG Heuer with the WTCC, we explained to them our plans for endurance motorbike racing and, apparently, they liked them!” said François Ribeiro, Head of Eurosport Events, the EWC promoter. “Endurance racing is rich in valuable content, and very rich as a story-telling platform: day, night, team effort, weather changes, push men and machine to their limits, we just love that mix and very much believe in the FIM EWC as a perfect complement to sprint road racing. TAG Heuer partners the EWC as a series sponsor and official time keeper on multi-year basis, and will use it to activate its #dontcrackunderpressure campaign.”

Jean-Claude Biver, Tag Heuer CEO and President of the LVMH Watch Division said “I’m proud to reconnect TAG Heuer with endurance motorbike racing. We want innovation, audacity, and courage. EWC is the perfect embodiment of our #DontCrackUnderPressure campaign. Racing is deeply-rooted in TAG Heuer's DNA.  Let’s make this partnership exciting, different and innovative. Our motto #DontCrackUnderPressure will be the guiding principle behind all our actions.” 

EWC season 2016 begins with the longest race of them all, the 24 Heures Le Mans Motos, France, from 8-10 April. The schedule also includes the Portimão 12 Hours in Portugal (10-11 June), the Suzuka 8 Hours in Japan (29-31 July) and the Oschersleben 8 Hours in Germany (27-27 August).