Branson's Virgin to Sponsor Brawn GP

Branson and Virgins investment seems very well timed as Brawn take pole for sunday

Branson, who was last month linked with buying the team, announced a "substantial sponsorship deal" at the Australian Grand Prix on Saturday.

"Virgin are trying to build the most respected brand in the world and an involvement with a great team will help that," Branson added.

Brawn GP chief executive Nick Fry said: "Virgin is paying to sponsor the car and it might evolve into more." Fry's remark will be interpreted as a suggestion that Virgin may be considering taking a shareholding in the team in the future. The Brawn team raced as Honda last season but secured their survival only at the beginning of this month following Honda's decision to quit F1 because of the global financial crisis.

Their car ran for the first time only in March but quickly emerged as the fastest in F1. The team's English driver Jenson Button led team-mate Rubens Barrichello to a one-two in qualifying on Saturday and is the pre-race favourite for Sunday's Australian Grand Prix.

Brawn team principal Ross Brawn said: "An exciting debut race weekend for our team has become even more important as we have secured our second commercial agreement of the season.

"We look forward to working closely with the Virgin Group and sharing our on-track successes."

Branson added: "I have always said I would love for Virgin to be involved in F1 and I am thrilled that we will be entering this fantastic sport with people as skilled as Ross Brawn and the Brawn GP team.

"Over the years Virgin has had the great honour of partnering with technical geniuses and I truly believe that Ross Brawn is to F1 what Burt Rutan is to space travel with Virgin Galactic.

"We are confident that the Virgin BGP 001 car driven by Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello will go from strength to strength this season and we look forward to a great future working with the Brawn GP team."

Brawn have not announced the length of the deal, other than to state that they hope it is "for a long time".