Electric racing driver keen on Auckland event

Kiwi Formula E driver Mitch Evans would love to be in any electric racing car action in Auckland next year.

Evans, 24, hopes to see an Auckland street racing event happen towards the end of the 2019 season.

He says moves to bring electric racing to Auckland are “progressing very well”.

“A lot of people have jumped on board, including many corporates, so there’s big interest in such an event here,” Evans says while spending a few days in the city visiting family.

“We should know more in a few months.”

Evans says much depends on Auckland Council approvals. “I’m sure the council will see the benefits such racing brings to the city and to the country.”

Cities around the world have been opening their streets to electric car racing because of the low emissions and greatly reduced noise levels they bring. The racing also encourages interest in electric vehicles generally.

Evans says he’d love to see the ABB FIA Formula E Championship in Auckland run alongside the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy which provides the world’s first production battery electric vehicle race series.

Jaguar has confirmed the first official pre-season test for the e-Trophy will take place at Silverstone in the United Kingdom on September 24-27.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing says Bryan Sellers will complete the driver line-up for its Jaguar eTrophy team, joining Katherine Legge for the debut season of the 10-race global series.

It will run alongside Formula E events which resume on December 15 in Saudi Arabia.

Evans is pleased with progress in the team’s second season, attributing much of its success to the improved Jaguar I-Type 2 cars. He finished seventh overall in driver standings compared with 14^th last time, with team-mate Nelson Piquet Jnr ninth.

“I could have done better,” says Evans, even though he had a podium finish in Hong Kong and a pole position start in Zurich.

Jaguar finished sixth in the team standings, with 119 points, and is now working on its I-Type 3 cars for the next season.

Evans hopes to be back in New Zealand just before Christmas.