Yet another former Formula One name has been linked with the Formula E Championship, the world’s first sanctioned motorsport event for electric cars. That name is Super Aguri, which returns to the world of international motorsport as a Formula E team set to compete in the sport’s inaugural season next year.
For those unfamiliar with Super Aguri, it is a former F1 team founded by ex-F1 driver Aguri Suzuki. It competed in motorsport’s top echelon from 2006 to 2008, and featured notable drivers Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson. Its run was eventually ended because of financial difficulty.
But now Suzuki and Formula E organizers have reached an agreement that will see 'Super Aguri Formula E' become the sixth team to enter the electric car competition. A total of ten teams are planned, with others already announced including Alain Prost-backed e.dams and America’s own Andretti Autosport and Dragon Racing.
Joining Suzuki at Super Aguri Formula E will be Mark Preston, who assumes the role of team principal. The pair last worked together during Super Aguri’s F1 days where Preston assisted in the team’s formation and worked as technical director. Suzuki currently oversees Autobacs Racing Team Aguri (ARTA), which competes in Japan’s Super GT series.
Ten races will be held in the inaugural season of Formula E, with Los Angeles and Miami among the destinations. Each of the races will take place in a single day, including qualifying and the actual race, and each driver will have two cars each (the driving range of each of the cars will only cover half of the hour long races so two are required).
For the inaugural season, which commences in September of next year, all teams will use a common chassis known as the Spark-Renault SRT_01E. Peak output of the cars will be roughly 200 kilowatts (270 horsepower).
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