This Ain't a Joke: Russia's Lada to Sponsor Renault F1 Racing Team

Remember all the classic Lada jokes of the 80s and 90s of the sort that one could crank out endlessly because the patterns are so reliable? Jokes like these: "What do you call a classic Skoda? A Lada" and "What do you call the shock absorbers on a Lada? Passengers".
Well, even though a partnership between Renault's F1 division and Lada sounds like a good foundation for a new joke, it isn't. Seriously now, Renault announced today a sponsorship deal with Russia's AvtoVAZ that will see branding from Lada on the chassis of the Renault F1 Team R30 race cars during the 2010 season.
The agreement, which was backed by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, is linked to the signing of 25-year-old Vitaly Petrov, who will make history this year as the first ever Russian F1 driver.
"We are proud to announce this new agreement, which marks another important step for the Renault F1 Team and Formula 1 in Russia," commented Renault F1 Team Chairman Gerard Lopez as he was checking out the bus and train schedules on the last pages of the Lada User's Manual.
Guess we all know the type of jokes sport fans will be making about Renault's F1 team this season...
And just to ease the concerns of the Renault F1 fans, there are no CURRENT plans to change the name of the team.