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iSport International is delighted to announce Gulf Finance House (GFH) as their title sponsor for the 2008/09 GP2 Asia series and beyond.

The deal sees GFH, one of the most successful Islamic investment banks in the Middle East, enter into a partnership with current European GP2 Series champion’s iSport International after signing what is thought to be the biggest ever sponsorship deal in the history of the Formula One feeder series.

Motor sport’s rapid expansion into the Middle East means the sport is experiencing incessant interest from the region, and GFH is at the forefront of this growth. Based in Manama, Bahrain’s capital, GFH have previously been involved in motor sport and were keen to widen their sports sponsorship portfolio and reinforce their commitment to actively promote motorsport in the Kingdom.

iSport is also thrilled to announce the signing of Bahraini Formula 3 driver Hamad Al Fardan for the 2008/09 GP2 Asia Series. Al Fardan will be the first Arab driver to compete at such a high level of motor sport when he makes his race debut at the Shanghai International Circuit on October 18/19 later this year.

21-year-old Al Fardan completed his first season in single-seater racing at 16 years of age, racing in the 2004 Formula BMW Asia series, and his impressive resume has since included the Toyota Racing Series, British Formula 3, and most recently German Formula 3.

Of the new partnerships Paul Jackson, iSport International Team Principal, commented, “We are very excited to be teaming up with GFH. It is a very important development for the team which will help us to keep moving forward in the GP2 series.

“We are also delighted to be working with Hamad Al Fardan in what we hope will be a successful campaign to make him the first Arab GP2 Champion. He is a very talented young driver and hopefully we can help develop him into a future Formula One star.”

Hamad Al Fardan is understandably thrilled to be joining such a successful team, “I am really excited about joining iSport International. Racing in GP2 with the current champions will be a dream come true and the next step on my road to Formula One. Of course my target is to win the Championship, but I know there will be some very strong opposition. I am looking forward to working with the team and I am sure we will achieve good results.

“My sincere thanks go to iSport, my sponsors, and to Bahrain for the constant support I receive.”












































GFH Chairman Esam Janahi commented on the announcement today saying, ‘Hamad represents the kind of pioneering spirit that drives our business philosophy at GFH. His achievements in motor sport offer huge inspiration to Bahraini’s of all ages and the wider Arab community who, like us, continue to delight in his success.’