JAGUAR RACING DEMONSTRATES POTENTIAL AT SEASON SEVEN PRE-SEASON TESTING

1 December 2020

Jaguar Racing have completed three days of intense pre‑season testing, demonstrating the Jaguar I‑TYPE 5’s on‑track potential as it completes over 370 laps.

  • Jaguar Racing demonstrates Season Seven pace with new driver pairing – Mitch Evans and Sam Bird – in the Jaguar I‑TYPE 5 at the ABB FIA Formula E pre‑season Test
  • The new I‑TYPE 5 electric race car with a state‑of‑the‑art in‑house powertrain completed over 1100km over the three day test – the equivalent of driving from London to Berlin
  • Jaguar Racing will return to the streets of Santiago on the 16 January 2021 for the first of 14 races in 12 cities

Jaguar Racing have completed three days of intense pre‑season testing, demonstrating the Jaguar I‑TYPE 5’s on‑track potential. The team completed over 370 laps at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia alongside the eleven Formula E teams.

 JAGUAR RACING - VALENCIA TESTING
JAGUAR RACING - VALENCIA TESTING
 JAGUAR RACING - VALENCIA TESTING
JAGUAR RACING - VALENCIA TESTING
 JAGUAR RACING - VALENCIA TESTING
JAGUAR RACING - VALENCIA TESTING

Sam Bird and Mitch Evans – one of the strongest pairings on the Formula E grid – finished Jaguar Racing’s scheduled testing programme during the ABB FIA Formula E pre‑season test. On the second day of testing Evans set the second fastest sector time in sector 1, while teammate Bird managed the second fastest sector time in sector 2. Mitch Evans finished the weekend with the fifth best lap time.

In his first official Formula E test for the British manufacturer, Briton Sam Bird completed over 197 laps in the Jaguar I‑TYPE 5, with his New Zealand teammate, Mitch Evans, completing 176 respectively – the combined equivalent of driving from London to Berlin.

Jaguar Racing engineers focussed on developing the new car’s set up, qualifying and race performance over the three days of testing in Valencia in preparation for the season opener on 16 January 2021. For 2021 the Jaguar I‑TYPE 5’s feature an all new in‑house powertrain, suspension and state‑of‑the‑art invertor which features 24 carat gold.

The pre‑season test in Valencia has been a constructive three days for us at Jaguar Racing. We’ve focussed on getting the new Jaguar I‑TYPE 5 up to speed, learning more about the new car and continuing our preparations ahead of Santiago. To finish today with Mitch in P5 was a good indication that we’ve got some promising car speed but we need to keep working hard behind the scenes before the first races in January. We’re really pleased with the progress we’ve made here in Valencia but there is still time to improve before the first race. We can’t wait to go racing again in January.

James Barclay
Jaguar Racing Team Director

Testing has been really interesting for me as a new driver with Jaguar Racing. We’ve learned a lot about the car ‑ the hardware, the software and the systems ‑ and we’ve understood what works well and how we can make the Jaguar I‑TYPE 5 go faster. Overall it’s been a really useful test. I’m very happy with the way that I’ve integrated with the team ‑ from my new engineers to my new mechanics, everyone has been really welcoming and I’m looking forward to going into Santiago with lots of positive learnings from this test.

Sam Bird
Jaguar Racing driver, #10

It’s been a really big few days for us. We had some technical glitches on day one but the team worked hard to fix these. We’ve been able to run for a good amount of time in the last few days, especially today, and I think we’ve made great progress. It’s really tight competition here, it always is, but I’m happy with where we’ve finished. We’ve made a number of adaptations to the car and although there is a lot to analyse between now and Santiago, I’m feeling confident that we’re heading in a good direction.”

Mitch Evans
Jaguar Racing driver, #20

We’ve had a really strong weekend and the engineers have worked really hard to optimise setup around the long corners that we see here in at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo. As the weekend has gone on, the gap between first place and 24th place has got closer and closer. One of the unique aspects of Formula E is that it’s a one day format, but in testing as you spend more time on the track, each team learns how to refine the setup and the gap between the field narrows. We feel like we’re in a good position going into Santiago but we will keep pushing with our final preparations.

Phil Charles
Jaguar Racing Technical Manager

On 16 January 2021 Jaguar Racing will return to the streets of Santiago for the first of 14 races in 12 cities of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship

Further information

For further information about Jaguar Racing, please contact:

Adrian Atkinson, Global PR Manager, Jaguar Racing

Tel: +44 (0) 7979 554005

Email: aatkins5@jaguarlandrover.com

 

Emily Hogg, Global Brand and Partnerships Officer, Jaguar Racing

Tel: + 44 (0) 7384 532 605

Email: ehogg2@jaguarlandrover.com

Notes to Editors

ABOUT 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 with its Race To Innovate mission in the future of electrification.

As an official manufacturer team in Formula E, 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.

The 2020/21 Formula E season is the first as the all‑electric series has been granted full world championship status by the FIA – the sport’s governing body. It will be the third year for the teams to be racing with the futuristic Gen2 race cars.

Teams have two race cars, 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 Santiago, Diriyah, Sanya, Rome, Paris, Monaco, New York and ending in a double‑header race weekend in London.  

Mitch Evans finished season six seventh in the Drivers' Championship and Jaguar Racing finished seventh in the Teams' Standings with a win in Mexico City, a podium in Santiago and one pole position. He is joined for season seven by British driver Sam Bird, who has won a race in every season of Formula E.

In season seven the championship is official recognised as a world championship by the governing body the FIA. It will be known as the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.

Race to Innovate

Formula E remains a key priority for Jaguar Land Rover and the company’s Destination Zero journey. As the only all‑electric world championship, Formula E allows us to test and develop new electric vehicle technologies in a high‑performance environment. It continues to be the test‑bed for our Race to Innovate mission that will see Race to Road and Road to Race learnings that will help shape our electric future – a future that Jaguar is passionate about, and dedicated to for the benefit of our society, the changing landscape of mobility, sustainability and our customers.