Jaguar TCS Racing ready for the lights to go green on the first ABB FIA Formula e E-Prix of season eight

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Gaydon, United Kingdom, 24 January 2022 – Jaguar TCS Racing travel to Diriyah, Saudi Arabia for the first two races of the 2021/22 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship and for the second night race weekend in Formula E history.

Mitch Evans – who starts his sixth season with the British racing team – lines up alongside Sam Bird for his second season with Jaguar in Formula E. After achieving a podium and a win last time out in Diriyah, the formidable driver pairing start the season at a track where they have both been highly competitive in the past.

The Diriyah circuit provides an entertaining challenge for both the drivers and the fans. With high speed, challenging corners in sectors 1 and 2 and longer straights in the final sector there are plenty of opportunities for overtaking.

The duo will drive the Jaguar I-TYPE 5 under the lights in Diriyah, which has shown positive performance during official testing and will be central to the team achieving podiums, wins and fighting for the World Championship.

James Barclay, Jaguar TCS Racing Team Principal: “At Jaguar TCS Racing there is great excitement to be starting season eight of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. After such a competitive season seven, we have been working hard as a team to put ourselves in a strong position this season and we can’t wait to finally go racing in our Jaguar I-TYPE 5 and start the fight for World Championship. With a new qualifying format there are undoubtedly things we are going to learn this weekend, but we are looking forward to the lights going green once again.”

Mitch Evans, Jaguar TCS Racing driver #9: “Last season we showed as a team exactly what we are capable of, and we are ready to do that again this year. It is my sixth year with the team and together we all have a real commitment to put the Jaguar TCS Racing team on the podium and be consistently winning races.”

Sam Bird, Jaguar TCS Racing driver #10: “Diriyah has always been a great track for me personally – I have won here multiple times and am very much focussed on doing the same again. I also have very fond memories as I secured my first win for the Jaguar TCS Racing team last time out. We all have a great determination to start strong after such a competitive season last year to ensure we are fighting for podiums, wins and the World Championship.”

Phil Charles, Jaguar TCS Racing Technical Manager: “Diriyah is a really interesting track for Formula E, there are a lot of elements that the drivers and the engineers have to perfect in order to compete at the front. The first two sectors are fast and flowing with multiple high-speed corners linked together, while the last sector has longer straights and a big braking event for the T18/19 chicane. The track has also recently been resurfaced. With the new surface, there is quite high potential for significant track evolution through the weekend. As a night race, the drop in temperature from the qualifying session to the race will also be key. It means Diriyah is a particularly tricky circuit but one that offers a challenge that Jaguar TCS Racing revels in.”
 
The inaugural E-Prix of season eight commences on the streets of Diriyah, Saudi Arabia at 20:00 local time on 28 and 29 January 2022.

EDITORS’ NOTES
ABOUT JAGUAR TCS RACING
Jaguar returned to racing in October 2016, becoming the first premium manufacturer to join the all-electric ABB FIA Formula E Championship street racing series. In season seven Jaguar TCS Racing finished runners-up in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship teams’ standings - the most successful so far in Jaguar TCS Racing’s Formula E history.

Formula E is a real-world test bed for Jaguar with its journey to becoming an all-electric luxury brand from 2025. Jaguar TCS Racing will deliver new sustainable technologies and set new benchmarks in quality in support of Jaguar Land Rover’s Reimagine strategy.

Jaguar TCS Racing goal is to ‘Reimagine Racing’ and together the team will test, develop, learn and collaborate, sharing insights across Jaguar Land Rover which will benefit future road car development. Specifically, learnings and technology transfer from Formula E will help ‘Reimagine' the Jaguar brand coinciding with the company’s commitment to the Gen3 era of Formula E.

As an official manufacturer team in Formula E, Jaguar TCS Racing designs its own powertrain, which includes the motor, transmission, inverter and rear suspension.

To control costs, the carbon fibre chassis and battery are common components and the same for all eleven teams. This allows the focus to be on developing electric vehicle powertrains which are efficient and lightweight which will improve the performance and range of future Jaguar Land Rover electric vehicles.

The 2021/22 Formula E season is the second season of World Championship status as granted by the FIA – the sport’s governing body. It will be the fourth and final year for the teams to be racing with the futuristic Gen2 race cars.

Teams have two race cars, one per driver, which will be used for the full race distance of 45 minutes plus 1 lap.

Beyond its all-electric concept, Formula E is unique in the world of motorsport for its choice of venues. The championship takes place on temporary street circuits in the centre of the world’s major cities including Diriyah, Mexico City, Rome, Monaco, New York, London and ending in a double-header race weekend in Seoul.  

New Zealander, Mitch Evans finished season seven fourth in the drivers' championship and Jaguar TCS Racing finished second in the teams' standings - the most successful so far in Jaguar TCS Racing’s Formula E history - with eight podiums, two wins, one pole position and 177 points scored. After his first season with the team, Briton, Sam Bird finished sixth in the championship with two wins, three podiums and a pole position
 
Race to Innovate
Formula E remains a key priority for Jaguar Land Rover and the company’s Reimagine strategy. As the only all-electric world championship, Formula E allows us to test and develop new electric vehicle technologies in a high-performance environment. It continues to be the test-bed for our Race to Innovate mission that will see Race to Road and Road to Race learnings that will help shape our electric future – a future that Jaguar is passionate about, and dedicated to for the benefit of our society, the changing landscape of mobility, sustainability and our customers.
 
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