Mahindra Racing to compete in FIA Formula E Championship

Mahindra Racing has announced that it will participate in the new FIA Formula E Championship that is set to begin on September 20, 2014, in Beijing. The Mumbai-based automaker recently signed an agreement with the series promoters and is the eighth and only Indian team to take part in the sport.

The Formula E Series is basically Formula 1 but with electric race cars. A report from the official Formula E website says that for the first season, each team will run four Spark-Renault SRT_01E single-seater race cars, two per driver. The cars will be transported to and from each race venue by Formula E. This, in addition to the cars being housed at a central workshop, is designed to reduce running costs. Also measures have been taken to restrict the number of team personnel, fixing gear ratios and finally not having in-race tyre changes to reduce the need for large amounts of equipment. The report adds that Formula E is an 'open championship' allowing teams to design and develop their own cars in accordance with the technical specifications set out by the FIA. 

 

Commenting on Mahindra Racing’s entry into Formula E, Anand Mahindra, Chairman and MD of Mahindra group, said, “With advanced operations and expertise in electronics, IT, automotive technologies and manufacturing, we are already seeing a fusion of this technology into our electric vehicle operations. Racing will further accelerate that trend while Formula E is set to raise awareness globally about the benefits of electric vehicles.”

This is expected to be a major step for the Indian racing scene and racing enthusiasts like Mahindra Racing will be the first truly Indian team to participate in a global open-wheel racing series. The Formula E Series will run in over 10 city-centric locations around the world in a bid to promote the use of EVs.