PANASONIC JAGUAR RACING START FORMULA E SEASON SIX WITH POINTS AND PACE

22 November 2019

  • British racing team, Panasonic Jaguar Racing, secures points in round one of the 2019/2020 ABB FIA Formula E Championship in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia
  • New Zealand racing driver Mitch Evans crossed the line P10 and secured fastest lap after qualifying P16
  • In his debut ABB FIA Formula E race James Calado crossed the line P16 having made up eight places
  • Panasonic Jaguar Racing now turns its attention to round two of the Diriyah E-Prix, commencing on Saturday 23 November at 15:00 local time (AST)

Panasonic Jaguar Racing started season six with a points-scoring race after New Zealand driver, Mitch Evans, secured P10 as the chequered flag fell at the Diriyah E-Prix.

Evans made up six positions and achieved the fastest lap of the E-Prix at the inaugural season six race with a time of 1.13.947 seconds. Evans’ fastest lap won another valuable point for the team and demonstrates the Jaguar I-TYPE 4’s race pace.

Rookie James Calado travelled up the pack from the back of the grid after a tough qualifying session, finishing his debut ABB FIA Formula E by bringing his car home in P16.

Panasonic Jaguar Racing, Diriyah E-Prix

It was good to get the season underway and be back out on track with some points. We had a difficult qualifying where we couldn’t maximise our potential, especially with Mitch in qualifying group one and catching traffic on his lap. We made good progress in the race to score points and secure fastest lap with Mitch which shows we have good race pace. I’m encouraged that we had one of the quickest cars out there today. It demonstrates the value of our hard work in the off-season on the Jaguar I-TYPE 4’s development and gives us the determination to push for more tomorrow. Our clear objective is to make more out of qualifying and put both cars in a strong position on the grid to secure good points for the team during the Diriyah E-Prix double-header.

James Barclay
Panasonic Jaguar Racing Team Director
Panasonic Jaguar Racing, Diriyah E-Prix

Not an ideal result but considering the circumstance after qualifying, we can be reasonably satisfied. It was always going to be difficult being in group one for qualifying, especially with the track evolution here. Achieving the fastest lap of the race shows our pace – let’s hope tomorrow’s qualifying goes well and we can get a good result in the race.

Mitch Evans
#20
Panasonic Jaguar Racing, Diriyah E-Prix, Mitch Evans

I made a costly mistake in qualifying while pushing the car to the limit but I’ll learn from it. I started the race in P24 and went in to the race with a clean approach, taking minimal risks to ultimately learn from the race experience itself. I gained a few places and lap times looked promising so I’m quite happy with how the race went, but not the result. I’m looking forward to tomorrow to get back out on track.

James Calado
#51
Panasonic Jaguar Racing, Diriyah E-Prix, James Calado

All focus now turns to round two of the Diriyah E-Prix, commencing in less than 24 hours on Saturday 23 November at 15:00 local time (AST).

Further information

For further information about Panasonic Jaguar Racing, please contact:

Imogen Shaw, Media Officer, Panasonic Jaguar Racing

Tel: +44 (0) 7825 024 591

Email: imogen.shaw@jaguarracing.com

 

Adrian Atkinson, Global PR Manager, Jaguar Racing

Tel: +44 (0) 7979 554005

Email: aatkins5@jaguarlandrover.com

Notes to Editors

ABOUT PANASONIC JAGUAR 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 2019 the team won the Rome E-Prix – Jaguar’s first international motorsport victory since 1991.

Formula E is a real world test bed for Jaguar to make fearless progress in the future of electrification.

As an official manufacturer team in Formula E, Panasonic Jaguar 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 twelve 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.

This is the second year teams will be racing with the futuristic Generation 2 racecars. Teams have two racecars, one per driver, which will be used for the full race distance.

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, Hong Kong, Sanya, Rome, Paris, New York and ending in a double-header race weekend in London.