Rolex’s close ties with motor racing and speed dates back to the 1930s.
The challenge of precision
Taming the power of mechanics. Pursuing excellence through constant innovation. Working with precision and dexterity. Controlling risk to find the ideal trajectory. The bond between Rolex and motor sport was formed in the 1930s, at the height of the passionate quest to set speed records. It has been ceaselessly strengthened ever since. Today, by partnering with Formula 1® as well as with the most iconic endurance competitions, vintage races and events rooted in tradition, Rolex stands alongside some of motor sport’s most legendary figures.
Major force behind motor sport
Driven by a passion for performance and precision, Rolex partners the leading motor sport series, Formula 1®, as well as iconic endurance races and classic events steeped in tradition.
Breaking records
The brand’s links to motor sport began in the 1930s with Sir Malcolm Campbell. Between 1924 and 1935, the “King of Speed” set the World Land Speed Record nine times, including breaking the 300 mph (483 km/h) barrier.
A chronograph born to race
Building on its ties with Daytona, the setting for many of Sir Malcolm Campbell’s records, it was in Florida in 1959 that Rolex renewed one of its earliest sporting associations by partnering the Daytona International Speedway®, home to the iconic contest now known as the Rolex 24 At DAYTONA. In 1963, Rolex gave its latest model the name Cosmograph Daytona to symbolize its connection with the renowned racetrack in the United States. Known simply as the “Daytona”, the watch embodies a history marked by a passion for speed and motor sport, and has risen to the rank of an icon as one of the best-known chronographs in the world.
Today, the watch reminds me that I was good enough and fast enough to win it.