Monroe - Technology Driven Safety

Monroe News

Mark Winterbottom joins forces with Monroe

February 4, 2010 

Tenneco, manufacturers of Australia's market leading
shock absorber brand, Monroe, has announced a new and exciting marketing
partnership with one of Australia's most talented racing drivers.

Ford Performance Racing (FPR) V8 Supercar team driver Mark Winterbottom has
joined forces with Tenneco to become the company's lead ambassador for
Australia's most trusted shock absorber brand, Monroe Shock Absorbers.

The 28 year old star driver known as "Frosty" by fans, fellow drivers and
the media, will use a completely re-designed helmet livery based on the
world renowned Monroe logo throughout the challenging 2010 V8 Supercar
Championship Series.

This alliance makes Winterbottom the face of the well known Monroe brand
through customer communications, print media advertising and point of sale
material.

Winterbottom will appear at major trade and consumer events representing the
Monroe brand during the year and will also promote the highly successful
Monroe Safety Specialist trade program. In leveraging this new marketing
partnership, Tenneco will also unveil a number of exciting Monroe shock
absorber sales promotions and competitions to take place during 2010.

According to Tenneco's Aftermarket Director, Roger Lassen, the association
with Mark Winterbottom is an exciting marketing strategy for the company.
"As Australia's market leader in ride control products, it makes perfect
sense to align the Monroe shock absorber brand with a leading V8 Supercar
driver who has enormous talent and broad appeal to both our trade customers
and end users. Mark is also a strong advocate for road safety through his
dedicated work off the track with the V8 Supersafe program. This fits in
well with the enhanced road safety messages that we deliver through our
Monroe shock absorber marketing. We are looking forward to an exciting year
with Mark and wish him and his team every success in the fight for the 2010
V8 Supercar Championship."

This announcement follows Winterbottom's signing of a new three year
contract with FPR, representing the next chapter in his meteoric career with
the Prodrive owned team, which is also Ford Australia's major team competing
in V8 Supercars.

"It is truly great to be aligned with a world famous automotive brand such
as Monroe. I am proud of the fact that Tenneco manufactures world class
Monroe shock absorbers here in Australia and look forward to playing my part
in promoting this quality brand through my V8 Supercar racing efforts. We
are heading for a remarkable racing season covering many events across all
Australian states and three overseas countries, starting in Abu Dhabi later
this month and extending all the way through to December," Mark Winterbottom
said.

Since joining FPR in 2006, Winterbottom has raced to 14 V8 Supercar event
victories, 51 podium (top three) finishes and 12 Pole positions (top
qualifier). He has finished in the top ten in 80% of the races in which he
has competed with FPR. In a sport whereby qualifying differences are
measured in tenths, hundredths and thousandths of a second, Mark has
qualified in the top three in no less than 44% of his races with FPR. In the
past five seasons he has not finished outside of the top five in the V8
Supercar Championship Series, the highlight being his runner-up placing in
2008.

The new Monroe brand ambassador is without a doubt one of the most exciting
talents to compete in Australia's premier motor racing category.

From perfecting the first self-oiled, single-barreled tyre pump in the USA
back in 1918, the Monroe Auto Equipment Company developed what they called a
shock eliminator to make cars more comfortable and easier to control in the
1920's. Within 25 years, the Monroe-Matic, the first double action shock
absorber, was the best known shock absorber in the world, used by most
American car makers through the 1950s. From that point on the Monroe shock
absorber range has been synonymous with enhancing road safety and comfort
through optimum control and tyre grip. Today, parent company Tenneco is one
of the world's largest automotive component manufacturers and marketers,
with brands such as Walker and Lukey Performance joining Monroe as leading
Original Equipment and Aftermarket suppliers of choice in Australia and
across the world. Tenneco employs 655 South Australians in its major
manufacturing plants located in Clovelly Park and O'Sullivan Beach (SA) and
a further 150 team members across Australia.