Castrol is a brand of industrial and automotive lubricants which is applied to a large range of oils, greases and similar products for most lubrication applications. The Castrol brand is part of the BP's Group of Companies, but has retained its separate identity.
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In February 1899, Charles Cheers Wakefield resigned from the Vacuum Oil Company over a disagreement with the management regarding Vacuum Oil's foray into the railway lubricants sector, and set himself up as competition. The firm he left behind would go on to become Mobil Oil.
Wakefield rented three small rooms on the third floor of 27 Cannon Street in the heart of London, and it was there, on March 19, 1899, that the firm of C.C.Wakefield & Co opened its doors for the first time.
In 1909, the company began production of a new automotive lubricant named "Castrol" (a contraction of castor oil, from which it was made). The company developed specific oil applications for various applications of the new internal combustion engine, including cars, motorcycles, and aircraft. The original 3 grades of oil being CW for cars, C for motorcycles and R for aircraft and racing engines, the castrol oil being responsible for the noticeable exhaust odor of early aircraft rotary engines.
In 1966, Castrol was acquired by British oil company Burmah, which was renamed Burmah-Castrol. In 2000, Burmah-Castrol was acquired by the then BP Amoco plc (now renamed BP plc). Castrol branded lubricants continue to be sold around the world and are, in many countries, market leaders.
Castrol offers lubricants for virtually all domestic, commercial and industrial applications. For automotive lubrication (including motorcycles 2-stroke and 4-stroke engines, car petrol and diesel engines), their products include an extensive range of manual and automatic transmission fluids, chain lubricants and waxes, coolants, suspension fluids, brake fluids, greases, cleaners and maintenance products. Castrol also produces products for agricultural machinery, plant, general industry and marine engineering uses.
Castrol products include:
The most prevalent display of the Castrol brand is to be found in sponsorship of varying motorsports (mainly as a "technical partner"), currently in the World Rally Championship, World Touring Cars, MotoGP, World Superbikes and World Supersports. Castrol have previously been formally involved in Formula 1 (most notably - with Williams), British Superbikes, British Rallying, DTM, V8 Supercars, Dakar Rally, Drag racing, Sidecar racing - and more. Castrol also have sponsored the Castrol Driver Rankings since January 2010.
The brand has been involved in Formula One for many years, most visibly as the title sponsor of Team Lotus for the 1993 season. Prior to that, Castrol had provided lubricants to a number of other teams, including Jaguar, McLaren, Brabham and Walter Wolf Racing.[1]
Following the temporary withdrawal of Elf from the sport at the end of 1996, Castrol forged an alliance with the Williams F1 team as a technical partner.[2] As of the end of the 2006 season, when the relationship ended, this partnership had yielded both Formula One World Championship titles in 1997 and 17 wins.
Castrol is one of the most popular oils used in the Australian Touring Car/V8 Supercar series. For many years, Castrol was the title sponsor of the Perkins Engineering Holden team, the relationship ending in 2006. Latterly, Castrol has been one of Ford Performance Racing's title sponsors, backing the Falcon of Steven Richards. Castrol's 2010 program will see Paul Morris Motorsport run a Castrol Racing Commodore for Greg Murphy, alongside its existing FPR Ford entry.[3] Castrol is the title sponsor with Team Bray, owned by Australian drag car legend, Victor Bray for 17 years.
The Toyota World Rally Championship team was supported by Castrol until 2003. Since then, the works Ford team has been supported by BP and by extension, Castrol lubricants.
During the 1980s, the Jaguar entries for the Le Mans 24 hours race were sponsored by Castrol, along with the tobacco brand Silk Cut. The company also supported the Sauber Mercedes sportcar team.
The company sponsored the Brewco Motorsports #27 car in the NASCAR Busch Series, driven by Casey Atwood from 1999 to 2000.
In North America, Castrol has been an active sponsor of NHRA drag racing. Castrol has sponsored John Force Racing under the GTX brand since 1987. Currently, Castrol is a sponsor of both John Force and Ashley Force Hood. Castrol is the name sponsor of Edmonton, Alberta's Castrol Raceway, a multi-track oval, drag, and motocross racing facility.[4] Castrol is the sponsor of D.J. Kennington in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series. In 2011 Castrol Edge became the official motor oil of NFL.
The Castrol Cricket Index for a team is a dynamic indicator of the overall performance of the cricket team. It is calculated by taking into consideration the batting momentum, the bowling efficiency, the performance of the teams in the quick start overs and the extreme performance overs and many other factors. Castrol Cricket also ranks cricketers based on their overall performance.[5] India centric initiatives being undertaken like Castrol World Cup ka Hero was created during the 2011 Cricket World Cup.[6][7]
Historically, Castrol has been a prolific sponsor of World Land Speed Records, with 21 "titles" to their credit, and their rightful claim of the "World's 'Fastest' Oil", with their current unbroken record of a supersonic speed of 763.035 mph (1,228 km/h) set by RAF fighter pilot Sqn Ldr (then) Andy Green, in the Richard Noble 'brainchild' ThrustSSC. This occurred in the USA at the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, on 15 October 1997.
Castrol products are still marketed under the red, white and green colour scheme that dates from the launch of Castrol motor oil in 1909. Advertisements for Castrol oil historically featured the slogan "Castrol - liquid engineering"; this was more recently refreshed and reintroduced as "It's more than just oil. It's liquid engineering." In 2008, this slogan is also being featured as the name for a new rewards club called the "Castrol Liquid Engineering Crew" in which members get the chance to win prizes.
For many years, [8] the opening notes of the first Nachtmusik movement of Mahler's Seventh Symphony were used as the signature theme of Castrol TV commercials.
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