They are huge in basketball, football and baseball however TeamVodafone will become the first V8 Supercar team to produce their own range of collectable cards which will also provide fans with the opportunity to meet Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup while supporting the Australian Red Cross.

After trialing the concept last year, TeamVodafone will design and print a series of 18 collectable cards with a different design for each round including the non-championship Australian Grand Prix. The Bathurst round will see three unique designs which will commemorate the Teams success at the iconic event.

88 of each autograph card will be available for purchase at the team merchandise stand at events via a gold coin donation to the Australian Red Cross. Individuals who are lucky enough to claim one of the 88 cards for each session will then be provided the opportunity to meet the popular drivers at the Teams official autograph sessions conducted later that day.

An additional 12 cards will be signed by the drivers and available for purchase for $10 from the team’s merchandise stand with another 100 signed card available for purchase from www.teamvodafone.com after each event.

In praising the new initiative Craig Lowndes said the cards were a great way for fans to create their own unique slice of memorabilia while also joining forces with the Team to support a great cause.

“We trialed this system last year and the fans really embraced it,” said Lowndes. “This year’s concept is slightly different with a series of cards to collect instead of just one design.”

“It is great to work with our fans on an initiative to raise money and awareness for the Australian Red Cross and the Australian Red Cross Blood Service.”

“There is a real shortage of blood donations at the moment, so each card will contain information on how fans can give blood and we will also have the Australian Red Cross join us at some events this year, “ Lowndes continued.

In 2007 the TeamVodafone merchandise cards raised awareness and funding for Lifeline.