Ma Qing Hua has been appointed as NIO’s official reserve driver for the upcoming season.
He makes the switch from Techeetah, where he had carried out the same role having been demoted from the race team.
He was dropped by Techeetah after a disappointing start to last season saw him fail to get anywhere near team-mate Jean Eric Vergne’s pace.
Before Techeetah, Ma had completed four races for Team Aguri, with a highest finish in Formula E of eleventh.
Speaking about his new driver, NIO Team Principal Gerry Hughes said it was fitting to have a Chinese driver driving for the Chinese team.
“It is with great pleasure that we welcome Ma Qing Hua in to the NIO Formula E team family in the role of reserve driver,” Hughes said.
“We have been working with Ma over the course of the summer manufacturer testing period and this appointment concludes our driver line-up for 2017/18 nicely.
“NIO is first and foremost a Chinese electric vehicle brand, so it extremely fitting to have Ma join the NIO Formula E Team and it will be great to see him back in the paddock in Hong Kong next week.”
