POSTED: Thursday December 4th 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FORMULA ONE LEGEND MIKA HAKKINEN MOTORV8s YOUTHS AT LAUNCH OF NEW LAUREUS PROJECT IN ENGLAND

Hakkinen was supported by three of his fellow Academy members: legendary tennis player Boris Becker, former All Blacks rugby captain Sean Fitzpatrick and Argentina’s Hugo Porta

•     ‘This is a wonderful programme that demonstrates how the power of sport can make a difference to young people’s lives’- says two-time World Champion
•    Laureus Academy members Boris Becker, Sean Fitzpatrick and Hugo Porta join Hakkinen to present Laureus MotorV8 with €100,000 cheque to fund programme
•    Young people and instructors demonstrate project activities to sports legends
•    Daytona track in Milton Keynes provides backdrop for Laureus MotorV8 launch

MILTON KEYNES, December 3, 2008 – Laureus World Sports Academy member and double Formula One World Champion Mika Hakkinen was guest of honour at the Daytona track in Milton Keynes for the official launch of Laureus MotorV8, a motor sport-based project, supported by the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.

In his first project visit as a Laureus World Sports Academy member, Hakkinen was supported by three of his fellow Academy members: legendary tennis player Boris Becker, former All Blacks rugby captain Sean Fitzpatrick and Argentina’s Hugo Porta, who has just been elected to the International Rugby Board Hall of Fame.

Laureus MotorV8 is a programme which aims to broaden the mechanical skills of young people to improve their employability and provide a diversionary activity for them, both inside and outside school hours. Participants include drug users, young offenders, those with physical disabilities and those who find integration difficult, such as recent immigrants.

The innovative project, which is based in Oxford and can help up to 300 young people each year, is funded by the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation in co-operation with the UK arm of global partners Mercedes-Benz. The four Academy members presented Laureus MotorV8 with a cheque for €100,000 to fund its activities.

During the day long activities, the sporting legends rolled up their sleeves and worked together with the young people and their instructors to participate in practical sessions, discussions and on-track competitions.

Finnish racer Hakkinen, World Champion in 1998 and 1999, said: “I am particularly proud to be here today since it is my first official Laureus Sport for Good Foundation visit and of course because it has a motor based theme. More importantly, this project really shows the Laureus mission at work in the best possible way. This is a wonderful programme that demonstrates how the power of sport can make a difference to young people’s lives.

”This programme has very good elements because it encourages young people to interact, work as a team and gives them practical experience. For me being part of a team was one of the most important aspects during my F1 career and it was great to see how it has been used to motivate these young people,” added Hakkinen.

Wilfried Steffen, CEO of Mercedes-Benz UK, whose head office is based in Milton Keynes, said: “As part of our global corporate strategy, we are delighted to support the wonderful work of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. This project is a perfect fit for us and we are delighted to be able to provide these young people with opportunities to better understand the motor industry and the opportunities it provides.”

Laureus MotorV8 is a community outreach programme that uses motor sport to engage with vulnerable young people who are at risk of exclusion from school, and with other disadvantaged groups who find it difficult to integrate with society. The young people, aged 13-15, chosen for this project, are elected by schools and youth groups in and around Oxford.

The project encourages the teenagers to broaden their skills and improve their employability by teaching them the values of teamwork and goal-setting, as well as providing a diversionary activity to encourage them to keep away from delinquent activity.

The six-week long courses incorporate mechanics and karting, mixed with discussion groups addressing social issues. All those taking part in Laureus MotorV8 are encouraged to work as a team with the final goal being a competition day. On this day all the young people from the project come to one location, where they compete as equals in a series of kart races, team-building exercises and mechanics competitions. The day is a reward for successfully completing the course and provides an excellent fun finale.

The project gives some of the most vulnerable young people from Oxfordshire the opportunity to learn a new skill and enjoy the experience of working towards a final goal, where they can be part of a team mixing with contemporaries who have the same or similar social issues.

Laureus MotorV8 is funded by the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and implemented by TRAX, The Oxfordshire Motor Project. TRAX was originally set up to address car crime in Oxfordshire and initially focused on building and racing ‘banger’ cars as an alternative to youth crime. TRAX now concentrates on go-kart, car and motor cycle maintenance. TRAX also offers issue-based group work addressing problems such as drugs, crime, violence and sexual health, and works to improve lifeskills such as teamwork, literacy and numeracy. In the 16 years it has been operating in Oxfordshire, TRAX has worked with over 5,000 vulnerable young people.

Those who successfully complete the Laureus MotorV8 course have access to further diversionary activities in the area. These include a wide range of projects offered by TRAX, such as advanced mechanics training, membership of other outreach youth groups and the TRAX Go-kart Club. Continuing their links with TRAX, also allows the participants to receive continuing support from the project workers.

The Laureus Sport for Good Foundation addresses social challenges through a worldwide programme of sports related community development initiatives. Since its inception Laureus has raised €15 million for projects which have helped improve the lives of over 750,000 young people. The Foundation addresses issues in particular involving, but not limited to, young people impacted by social exclusion, gun and gang violence, discrimination, community integration, peace and reconciliation, and education.

Laureus MotorV8 is the fifth Laureus Sport for Good Foundation project in the United Kingdom. The others are Fight for Peace in London’s East End, It’s A Goal in Macclesfield and Manchester, London Active Communities and Youth Sport Foyle in Northern Ireland.

Boris Becker, Sean Fitzpatrick, Mika Hakkinen and Hugo Porta are members of the Laureus World Sports Academy, a unique group of 46 of the greatest living sportsmen and woman, who share a belief in the power of sport to break down barriers, bring people together and to improve the lives of young people around the world. The Academy members volunteer their services as global ambassadors for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.


For further information, please contact:

Mal Thompson
Laureus Global Communications
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7514 2749
E-mail: shelly.storm@laureus.com
Website: http://www.laureus.com

For photos of this, and other Laureus events please visit: http://www.laureusarchive.com

Information correct at time of going to press.




NOTES TO EDITORS

The Patron of Laureus is Nelson Mandela. At the inaugural Laureus World Sports Awards in 2000, President Mandela said: “Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. Sport can awaken hope where there was previously only despair.” This has become the philosophy of Laureus; the driving force behind its work.

Laureus is a universal movement that celebrates the power of sport to bring people together as a force for good. Laureus is composed of three core elements - the Laureus World Sports Academy, the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and the Laureus World Sports Awards - which collectively celebrate sporting excellence and harness the power of sport to promote social change.

The members of the Laureus World Sports Academy are: Giacomo Agostini, Marcus Allen, Severiano Ballesteros, Franz Beckenbauer, Boris Becker, Ian Botham, Sergey Bubka, Bobby Charlton, Sebastian Coe, Nadia Comaneci, Yaping Deng, Marcel Desailly, Kapil Dev, David Douillet, Emerson Fittipaldi, Sean Fitzpatrick, Dawn Fraser, Cathy Freeman, Tanni Grey-Thompson, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Mika Häkkinen, Tony Hawk, Mike Horn, Miguel Indurain, Michael Johnson, Kip Keino, Franz Klammer, Dan Marino, John McEnroe, Edwin Moses (Chairman), Nawal El Moutawakel, Robby Naish, Ilie Nastase, Martina Navratilova, Alexei Nemov, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Morné du Plessis, Hugo Porta, Vivian Richards, Monica Seles, Mark Spitz, Daley Thompson, Alberto Tomba, Steve Waugh and Katarina Witt.

The Laureus Academy members volunteer their services as global ambassadors for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, which was set up to promote the use of sport as a tool for social change. The Foundation addresses social challenges through a worldwide programme of sports related community development initiatives. Since its inception Laureus has raised €15 million for projects which have helped improve the lives of over 750,000 young people. The Foundation addresses issues in particular involving, but not limited to, young people impacted by social exclusion, gun and gang violence, discrimination, community integration, peace and reconciliation, and education.

The Laureus World Sports Awards is the premier global sports awards honouring the greatest sportsmen and women across all sports each year. The winners are selected by the ultimate sports jury - the 46 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy, the living legends of sport honouring the great athletes of today. The Awards are presented at an annual Awards Ceremony, attended by global figures from sport and entertainment, which is broadcast to 180 countries.

Laureus was founded by its Patrons Daimler and Richemont and is supported by its Global Partners Mercedes-Benz, IWC Schaffhausen and Vodafone.

Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz, the world’s oldest automaker, can look back on a unique tradition. The premium brand stands for modern, innovative automobiles, for quality, safety, comfort and design. Mercedes-Benz enjoys an excellent reputation, particularly in the area of safety technology. Many pioneering technical innovations that are standard automotive features today were first seen in a Mercedes-Benz car. The car with the star also has an excellent reputation with regard to quality, value for money and customer satisfaction. Mercedes-Benz is a Founding Partner of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. Since the beginning of the Foundations’ operations in 2000, Mercedes-Benz has shared and supported the goals and values of this worldwide charity programme where sports play the core role in the fight against social issues - Laureus has become a vital element of the corporate social responsibility programme of Mercedes-Benz.

IWC Schaffhausen
For more than a century, IWC Schaffhausen has been producing precision products of complex functionality and outstanding user-friendliness for watch connoisseurs who expect more from their watch than just having an accurate timekeeper. Since its foundation in 1868, the International Watch Company has built up a reputation as a long-established Swiss watchmaking firm with a passion for inventions, innovative solutions and technical refinements. Today the brand is more successful than at any time in its history. IWC uses this strength in a programme of corporate social responsibility initiatives at home and abroad. In 2005, IWC entered into a long-term commitment to become a Founding Partner of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.

Vodafone
Vodafone, the world\‘s leading international mobile communications group, with over 250 million proportionate customers and equity interests in 25 countries across five continents and a further 40 partner networks worldwide, is supporting Laureus as a new Global Partner, with a five year agreement which began in 2008 and concludes in 2012. Vodafone is a long-standing supporter of sport sponsorship and is pleased to be part of an organisation that celebrates sporting excellence both at a grass roots level through the humanitarian work worldwide of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and at elite level through the annual Laureus World Sports Awards, which honours the achievements of the greatest sportsmen and sportswomen.

# # #

Keywords · Mika Hakkinen · Boris Becker · Sean Fitzpatrick · Hugo Porta · Laureus Foundation

Name: Mal Thompson
Organization: Laureus Foundation
Email:
Phone: +44 (0) 20 7514 2749
URL: http://www.laureus.com/

Please refer all questions to the company listed above issuing the press release. SFC will not be able to assist you with any inquiries and disclaims any content in these press releases.