Nick Heidfeld and Stephane Sarrazin to drive for Venturi in Formula E

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It seems like almost every day there is a new and exciting development in the run up to the 2014-2015 FIA Formula E Championship. On June 26, Venturi Automobiles announced that Nick Heidfeld and Stéphane Sarrazin will represent the team when they line-up on the grid at the start of the world’s first fully-electric racing series in Beijing on September 13 2014.

Neither Heidfeld nor Sarrazin are strangers to the international racing scene, having both competed in various forms of motorsport including Formula 1, WRC and Le Mans.

“It’s new, and new means exciting,” said German driver Nick Heidfeld. “It feels really special to be part of a starting project that is going to bring a lot to the future of racing and the automobile. I remember when I was young and starting in karting, sustainable development was not in people’s mind. When you’ve been involved in driving and motorsport at a high level for such a long time, you step into a car and automatically start to compare to what you’ve experienced before. I will try to bring some ideas of what I’ve seen and experienced to help the team perform at the highest level. The team will work as one to find solutions: that’s what I like, to move forward. Working on a car is really interesting and very satisfying when you achieve winning results.”

Venturi Automobiles, a leader in high performance electric sports cars, will offer to supply technology to the teams participating in the championship in season two. The company is the current holder of the FIA world land speed record for an electric vehicle with 495kph (307mph in 2010) and will attempt a new world speed record this summer. Therefore, it is almost a no-brainer that they are entering the Formula E Series.

“Being a part of this new championship is amazing,” added Frenchman Stéphane Sarrazin. “I am excited and motivated to sit in a totally new car with pioneering technology and to undertake a new discipline. In addition, street circuits promise a lot of close competition and fights between good drivers. You have to perform to make people dream. It’s a great way to raise awareness of electric vehicles. I have three years’ of experience in hybrid vehicle competition, which introduces the concept of being efficient in saving energy and the FIA Formula E Championship takes this to another level. This is something very important and I want to build on my experience. I am proud to race for Venturi, a renowned pioneer in electric vehicles. This is the future.”

To date, 10 of the 20 drivers have been conformed with Daniel Abt and Lucas di Grassi driving for Audi Sport Abt, Sam Bird and Jaime Alguersuari at Virgin Racing, Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok at Mahindra Racing, Franck Montagny at Andretti Autosport and Jarno Trulli at new team TrulliGP.

“I’m delighted to welcome Nick and Stéphane to the FIA Formula E Championship,” said Alejandro Agag, CEO of Formula E. “Both have shown in the past that they are very talented drivers in various forms of motorsport and they will be a great addition to both Venturi and the Formula E grid.” 

Formula E is the FIA’s new fully-electric single-seater championship designed to appeal to a new generation of motorsport fans, whilst accelerating the interest in electric vehicles and promoting sustainability. Racing entirely on temporary city-centre race tracks, it uses cars capable of speeds in excess of 150mph (225kph). The first of 10 races takes place in Beijing around the iconic Olympic ‘Bird’s Nest’ Stadium with the season finale taking place in London on June 27 2015.

 

Adam Sinclair
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