New Formula E team Techeetah say that they would like to work with a manufacturer in future to help them be more competitive.
The Chinese owned outfit bought over the remnants of Team Aguri, and say that they are looking to establish themselves in the sport by taking a long term approach.
This includes looking at a tie-up with a manufacturer, with rumours swirling that the team’s Renault powertrain could be re-badged with Nissan branding in the future.
Speaking to Motorsport.com, Team President Edmund Chu said, “It is going to be a big adventure and owning a team in motorsports is something new for us.”
“[Working with a Manufacturer] is a direction we want to take and will be quite important for us going forward and we are looking at it seriously.”
“The main goal will be to establish our presence in Formula E next season. We want to be a successful team on and off the grid. China is a very important market for us and we hope to have the support of many motorsport enthusiasts here in China.
“It’s a global championship so we are taking a long-term approach to this as we establish the team and showcase it to have the best engineers, technical people and drivers.”
To help them hit the ground running, Chu confirmed that they would be keeping a lot of the personnel from Aguri, including Team Principal Mark Preston.
“At present there is not too much of a change from the old team. Mark Preston will continue to be the Team Principal, Leo Thomas will continue as Technical Director.”
“We didn’t want to change too many things because experience they have in this series is going to help us a lot, so we are quite comfortable with the testing period coming up.”
Chu also said that the team were already learning a lot from new driver Jean-Eric Vergne. The Frenchman signed for the team after leaving DS Virgin Racing after the London ePrix, and his experience is already proving invaluable.
“We are tremendously excited to have Jean-Eric onboard and along with having Ma [Qing Hua] it will really establish our presence,” Chu commented.
“He has great experience in the upper echelons of racing and his experience in Formula E and Formula 1 is going to lend itself to us as being a competitive team.”
“From the get-go he is giving us so much information and ways in competing at the highest level possible, so it is a real coup for us.”
