Jaguar Racing starts the second season of electric racing with Jaguar iPace eTrophy within Formula E. The new season will start at 22nd November with three female drivers on the grid.
This weekend marks the beginning of the second season of the battery electric zero-emission Jaguar iPace eTrophy. The iPace eTrophy is supporting the Formula E in Riyadh/Saudi Arabia and will end its season in November with the London ePrix. The first and the last racing weekend will be a double header, with six races in between them. This year the series will adopt the "attack mode"of Formula E after successful trials in NY City earlier this year.
In 2018 the series started to support the Formula E season with the brand-new Jaguar iPace, built by Jaguar´s Special Vehicle Operations team with technical support from M-Sport.
Featuring two female drivers on the grid, Katherine Legge made history with a victory at the second round in Mexico City. She became the first woman to win a race during a Formula E weekend and fought the whole season for the championship. With more podiums in Hong Kong and New York City, Legge finished the season in 5th place in the Pro class.
The second female on the grid was French Célia Martin, racing in the Pro-Am class. She drove a good rookie season with an end result of P4 in the overall Pro-Am standings.
With one guest start, Alice Powell got the chance to start in Ad Diriyah and finished in a remarkable fifth place.
For the new season, Alice Powell will join as full-time driver with "Jaguar Ran Racing eTROPHY Team Germany", while also competing in the W-Series.
Katherine Legge's team Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing will not return to the series, so the British woman won´t compete this year.
But next to Alice Powell, two VIP drivers will join the grid for the first round - Abbie Eaton and Reema Juffali.
Abbie Eaton is the official racing driver for Amazon Prime´s "The Grand Tour" show and has many years of racing experience. She won a race in the Blancpain Endurance Series in a Ferrari 488 GT3 in 2017 and scored four podiums in the GT Cup Ferrari 488 Challenge last year. 2020 will be her first season in formula cars, as she is also one of the new participants in the all-female W-Series.
"I am excited to be racing in the first round of the Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY in Saudi. The Riyadh track looks challenging and technical and I’ve heard fantastic things about the Jaguar I-PACE too! It’ll be a first for me racing a fully electric racing car so thank you to Jaguar Racing for the opportunity."
Reema Juffali will make history with her guest start in the Jaguar iPace eTrophy in Riyadh this weekend. She will become the first Saudi Arab woman to compete in an international race in Saudi Arabia. The young driver made her competive racing debut just months after her home country lifted the ban of females driving. She joined the British F4 this year and now she gets ready for the double header at the Ad-Diriyah ePrix.
"I am thrilled to be the Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY VIP driver for the first race of season two. I can’t wait to be out on track racing on home soil for the first time. The series has highlighted the innovation and progress of motorsport, giving more opportunity for men and women to compete together in cool electric racecars. It’s going to be an amazing weekend and I can’t wait to be out on the grid."
Cover Ph credits: Oliver Krüger
Other pictures: Jaguar Racing Media