A new electric racing series comes to light.
Since fall 2014 we have seen FIA Formula E as the major electric championship across the world.
Electric GT Championship series will contain 10 teams running 2 cars each, so the starting grid will be 20 drivers. The car is a Tesla Model S P85+ with 416 bhp and 0-100kph in 4,4 seconds. A roll cage will be mounted in the car, like we know from other real racing cars. Furthermore there will be small changes to brakes, suspension and aerodynamic, to make its performance better on the race tracks.
Pirelli will be the official tyre supplier, while OMP are supplying the safety equipment for the car.
The championship in 2017 will be a seven-rounds championship in Europe plus 3 races in the USA, that won’t count in the championship.
The race weekend will consist of 20 minutes practice, 30 minutes qualifying, a 60 kilometer race at daytime and a 60 kilometer race in dusk. The calendar isn’t out yet, but the series itself has mentioned that they will visit Circuit De Catalunya, Paul Ricard and Nürburgring.
The first 4 drivers for the championship has been announced:
Stefan Wilson – British Indycar driver and younger brother to Justin Wilson, He won the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award in 2007, where some of the price was a test in a McLaren F1 car.
Vicky Piria – a Spaniard that has driven karting before she went for Formula Abarth, GP3 and Star Mazda in the single seater classes.
Leilani Münter – American ARCA driver, who has done Indy Lights too. She is also very enviromental oriented and therefore a good asset to this series.
Dani Clos – a Spaniard that has been as close to Formula 1 as you get, without driving a race. He has been test driver for both Williams and HRT. He has been doing several GP2 seasons, where his best result was 4th in the Championship in 2010.
The former Formula 1 driver Heinz Harald Frentzen was out testing the car last week at Paul Ricard, and was very complimentary about its handling and race ability. So perhaps we will see him in the series too next year.
Photo: Electric GT Championship
The series is actually looking for drivers interesting to participate in the series. So have you got a racing license, you can apply at www.electricgt.co and then cross your fingers to get a call back.
We are very curious to hear more from the series, and as soon as there is a calendar out and further driver announcements, we will report it.
