During a Brazilian Stock Car race, fans were in for a surprise when two team swapped bonnets and sponsors. The reason for the unexpected swap was for championing a worthy cause

The cars of Julio Campos and former F1 driver, Ricardo Zonta, raced with differently coloured front ends. As it turned out, this stunt was a deliberate ploy from the teams to highlight the importance of organ donation and organ transplants. This took place ahead of Brazil’s ‘National Organ Donation Day’ on 27 September.

The livery swap was a secret deal between sponsors Prati-Donaduzzi (Brazil’s primary pharmaceutical manufacturer) and Shell. This deal between the two companies was quite impressive feat, since some difficulties could potentially arise from sponsor clashes.

The idea of the ‘Transplant Cars’ was a particularly close subject for Brazilian Stock Car driver Julio Campos. As it turned out, his older brother Marco died in a Formula 3000 crash in 1995. According to Julio, he “immediately engaged in raising awareness of the cause”. Meanwhile former BAR F1 driver, Zonta said “it is incredible to use the visibility provided by motor racing to call attention to a subject as relevant as organ transplantation.”

Organ donation has been a relevant topic in the field of motorsport especially in recent times. Back in 2015, former F1 driver Justin Wilson tragically lost his life in an IndyCar incident at Pocono. Afterwards, his brother Stefan revealed that Justin’s organs had helped to save the lives of six other people.

Motorsport is and has always been a dangerous field with the risk of death ever present, no matter how many safety measures are added. So, with causes like organ donation, the legacy of the deceased driver can live on in someone else.