Panasonic Jaguar Racing ready for third Formula E season

Kiwi racing driver Mitch Evans has high hopes for the third season with Panasonic Jaguar Racing in the ABB FIA Formula E.

New cars, a new race format, new venues and new teams start the electric street racing series with the inaugural Ad Diriyah E-Prix in Saudi Arabia on December 15.

Evans and fellow driver Nelson Piquet Jr aim for podium finishes in the team’s new and faster Jaguar I-Type 3 race car.

“I had my first podium in Hong Kong last year and I want to repeat that consistently,” Evans says. “With the new car I believe that is possible and I will be racing to win – that’s what gets me up in the morning.”

His brother Simon will be racing for Team Asia New Zealand in the inaugural Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy race, the world’s first international championship for production-based electric cars starting in Ad Diriyah with 12 I-Paces on the grid.

The new series showcases the link between Jaguar’s involvement in Formula E, the development of Jaguar’s road cars and the future of electrification.

The Formula E championship comprises 13 races in 12 cities – ending in New York on July 14, while the eTrophy series takes place on the same day at 10 rounds.

This season, each E-Prix is a timed race, lasting 45 minutes plus one lap – making the team’s strategies more difficult and the races unpredictable.

Jaguar says its new powertrain is 25% more powerful than the I-Type 2 and produces up to 250kWh and the I-Type 3 has more than 800 new parts compared to last season’s race car.

“We have combined the learnings from our first two seasons to make sure our powertrain is as competitive as possible, hopefully putting us in a great place heading into the opening E-Prix,” Panasonic Jaguar Racing Team director James Barclay says.

“We had our most successful season to date in 2017-18, and with Nelson and Mitch both returning, I’m optimistic we have the right team and the right cars to secure points and fight for podiums at every race.”

Fanboost opened on December 10 and closes 10 minutes into the race. The top five drivers will be able to use their Fanboost in the last 25 minutes of each race.

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