Jaguar today announced its return to global motorsport with an entry for the third season of the FIA Formula E Championship, with WAE confirmed as technical partner.
WAE is a long term engineering partner of Jaguar, having worked together on projects such as the C-X75 hybrid supercar, and will be responsible for the operational running of the Jaguar Formula E race team. WAE will also be working in close collaboration with Jaguar on research and development. Craig Wilson, Managing Director of WAE, will take on the role of Race Director for the team.
Best known for its successes in Formula One over the past four decades, Williams also has a long standing history of supporting organisations in a range of motorsport series such as endurance racing, rallying and touring cars. Williams has extensive Formula E experience as the sole supplier of the batteries that power the cars in the Championship. This has included on event technical support to each team – a role that will now transfer to Spark Racing Technologies for season 3 onwards.
FIA Formula E offers a unique opportunity for Jaguar Land Rover to develop its own future EV powertrain including motor and battery technology on the track, which will be seen in the brand’s future range of passenger vehicles. The team entry has been granted by Formula E and approved by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA).
Craig Wilson, Managing Director of WAE, said; “There is a saying that racing improves the breed and Jaguar’s entry into Formula E will be a powerful way of honing a new generation of EV technologies for its products. We are delighted that they have chosen WAE as their technical partner in this new and high profile chapter in Jaguar’s racing history. Williams has extensive knowledge of EV technology, racing car design and the logistics of running a successful racing team so we are well set to support Jaguar in what promises to be an exciting new challenge for both parties.”
Nick Rogers, Group Engineering Director for Jaguar Land Rover, said: “Jaguar is proud to announce its return to racing. We’re at the forefront of pioneering technology. Over the next five years we will see more changes in the automotive world than in the last three decades. The future is more about being connected, electrification and lightweight architectures. Formula E enables us to engineer and test advanced technologies under extreme conditions.
“Formula E will provide genuine live testing for future electric vehicle powertrain technology, which will appear in our new range of vehicles. We are working with a number of partners on the future of electrification including Warwick University, battery suppliers and of course our long-term partners Williams. We will have our engineers embedded with Williams from the start and our innovations will directly affect future Jaguar Land Rover vehicles.”
James Barclay, Jaguar Team Director, said: “We looked in detail at alternative ways of returning to motorsport. This was such an important decision for Jaguar and we wanted to get it right. With our future EV plans Formula E was the obvious choice and we believe that the benefits are enormous. The FIA and the promoter have exciting plans for the future of the championship and we are proud to be one of the first vehicle manufacturers to commit to the series with our own team. We have a lot of work to do ahead of the first race but it is a challenge we relish. We hope that we can welcome a new generation of fans to Jaguar through this exciting programme.”
