Kiwi Simon Evans joins brother Mitch in electric racing

Simon Evans, brother of Panasonic Jaguar Racing driver Mitch Evans, will drive in the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy event starting December 15.

“My brother races in Formula E and I’ve been following it for a few years now; it’s definitely the future so it’s great to be involved,” Simon Evans says.

“The car exceeded all my expectations, it was really nice to drive and the braking performance is really good. Having my brother there will be great too – we’ll be supporting each other and he’ll definitely be pushing me on.”

Evans will be part of a multi-sponsor team from across the Asia Pacific region.

He is among a new wave of drivers revealed by Jaguar Racing as participating in the inaugural world-first all-electric production-based race series.

Initial teams took delivery of their race cars at the first official acclimatisation test of the new support series to the ABB FIA Formula E Championship, held at Silverstone this week.

Caca Bueno, five-time winner of Stock Car Brasil, and fellow Stock Car Brasil driver Sergio Jiminez joined the grid representing Jaguar Brazil Racing.

The two-car team is co-sponsored by Zeg Environmental, a Sao Paolo-based company which invests in disruptive technologies and renewable energy projects, and iCarros, Brazil’s largest online vehicle sales portal.

 Katherine Legge and Bryan Sellers, driving for the US Rahal Letterman Lanigan racing team, also took delivery of their eTrophy cars.

 Further multi-car teams from China, the Middle East and Europe will announce details shortly, including their drivers.

A team from Germany attended the acclimatisation test and is due to announce the team’s name and driver in coming weeks.

“The standard of drivers is high and with five continents already represented on the grid it is going to be a truly international series,” Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy championship manager Marion Barnaby says.

“We’re looking forward to unveiling more competitors and completing final testing before our debut in Ad Diriyah on December 15.”

 ABB has been announced as official charging partner for the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy and will provide compact fast chargers to each team.