Porsche Michelin Supercup inspires Vertu to launch a new ascent phone with carbon fibre

Notes and media contacts

The Porsche Michelin Supercup 2005 race calendar is scheduled as follows:

Sept 2-4 Gran Premio di Italia, Monza, Autodromo Nazionale Monza
Sept 9-11 Belgian Grand Prix, Spa-Francorchamps, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

The Porsche Infineon Carrera Cup Asia, now in its third year, takes place in several locations in Asia Pacific attracting the best performance cars and drivers from around the world. The Porsche Infineon Carrera Cup Asia continues its race schedule into the second half of 2005 on the following dates:

Oct 10 Shanghai, China, Shanghai Porsche Infineon Carrera Cup Asia Round 10
Nov 20 Macau, China, Macau Porsche Infineon Carrera Cup Asia Round 11

About Vertu Ascent Collection
Every Vertu handset offers a high level of craftsmanship and performance. Twice as many hours went into the research and development of a Vertu handset than what generally goes into a modern Formula One racing car. Inspired by the design of classic sports cars, the Vertu Ascent Collection offers a unique combination of hard steel and leather, never before seen in a mobile phone.

The Vertu Ascent is as tough as it is elegant. The Liquidmetal® chassis is flexed under 55 kilograms of pressure to check for elasticity and "return to form", in the event of the handset being dropped, while specially developed silicone mouldings under the leather at each corner protect it against wear and tear.

The inspiration drawn from luxury racing cars is visible in several details on the Vertu Ascent collection: the speaker ports mimic the design of air vents on a sports car; the hand-stitched leather detail recalls the steering-wheel of luxury racing cars; even the battery cover lock resembles a fuel tank cap, and the design of the screws on the battery cover was modelled on rim screws.

About Carbon Fibre
Carbon fibre composites are the ultimate material for maximum stiffness while giving the handset minimum weight. The strength of the fibres comes from the epoxy resin matrix, which is essential to bond the fibres together in the correct orientation, protect them from damage, and enable successive layers to be laminated.

A 4x4 twill weave is chosen to give a combination of good mechanical performance with good looks. The starting material is a woven carbon mat combined with a resin called a pre-preg. A highly polished stainless steel tool is used to provide the high gloss finish, made possible by a hand lay-up of the pre-preg in the tool. Once polished, the part is vacuum bagged and placed in an autoclave for curing and then precision machined to shape, whereupon the metal surround detail is finally fitted.

Typical applications for carbon fibre parts for Formula 1 racing cars, include the nose piece, wish bones, brakes and clutch, and racing car shells, as well as other parts for racing motorcycle parts, racing bike frames and folks, satellite parts, and surgical parts, such as knees joints. Cosmetic applications have included watch faces and pens.

Press Contacts:
Vertu Global
Constance Chew

Vertu Regional
Karen Fayad

G2 Regional PR department
Elizabeth Cowie
Tel: +9714 3310331
Fax: +9714 3310553