Sunday 11th September 2016

Jaguar in Formula E - official!

Drivers and Panasonic sponsorship confirmed, plus a name as well: I-Type 1

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Any faint, lingering hopes that Jaguar's return to motorsport might mean an F-Type GT3 or XE DTM car have been quashed with the official unveiling of the Formula E car. It's called the I-Type 1, the team is sponsored by Panasonic (nobody has mentioned F1, funnily enough) and the race debut is at Hong Kong next month.

The car will be driven by Northern Irishman Adam Carroll, Mitch Evans and Ho-Pin Tung. Jaguar says it is the first premium manufacturer to enter the sport, though this comes off the back of Audi confirming official support of the ABT team ahead of it becoming a full works outfit next year. Either way, Formula E will be delighted to have such big brands joining the series.

At the car's debut, there has been a lot said about the influence of motorsport on Jaguar's road cars. Remember disc brakes, the XK straight-six and monocoques were first seen in the race cars before being seen on the road. There was a video with Stirling Moss to hammer the point home. So yes, you can expect to see EV technology on production Jaguar cars soon.

Moreover, Jaguar says its aims are to "change the perception of EV technology" and also to inspire a new generation of motorsport fans. Say you're a young enthusiast who has only ever known hybrid F1 - does that make Formula E of greater interest? Crucially too, does it make Jaguar a more appealing brand to younger people, a demographic it has always struggled with?

Those are questions to be answered in the future. For now we know that the car has completed a "successful" three-week test program at Donington Park and that an official Jaguar race car will return to motorsport in Hong Kong on October 9. We'll bring you more as that date approaches, or you can follow the new Jaguar Racing Twitter for more details. Welcome back to racing Jaguar!

Watch the video here

 

[Craiglamuffin]

Interesting move given how big customer GT racing is getting. I would have thought that would be more natural territory for Jaguar.

Formula E feels a bit like powerboat racing. A very cool looking thing to put in a corporate brochure or on a billboard, but very few proper followers.