The brand-new TAG Heuer Porsche Racing Formula E Team have showcased their debut Formula E racing car, the Porsche 99X Electric.
The 99X Electric will be the German manufacturer’s challenger when they make their series debut in the 2019-20 ABB FIA Formula E Championship, starting at the 2019 Ad Diriyah ePrix on 22 November with the 14-race season concluding in London on 26 July 2020.
Their race drivers for the forthcoming campaign, Andre Lotterer and Neel Jani, were part of the launch.
The launch of the new car is the culmination of the hard work that has gone on at Porsche, developing a Formula E concept to a racing reality since leaving the World Endurance Championship at the end of 2017.
“Today is an important day. With the premiere of the Porsche 99X Electric, we are taking a big step towards the Porsche works entry in Formula E. I am really proud of our team, which has shown a high level of commitment to the Formula E project.
“Now I am looking forward to seeing the Porsche 99X Electric on the racetrack,” said Fritz Enzinger, Vice President Porsche Motorsport and Group Motorsport Volkswagen AG.
In terms of the naming of the car and the racing livery: the tradition of two numbers for Porsche cars were kept with 99 used to signify the importance of the car, and X used to signify the forward-looking thinking and approach needed in this unique type of prototype racing. The livery adopts the same format as most Porsche cars with red and grey being the primary colours on their FE challenger.
Today also saw another member being added to the TAG Heuer Formula E Team as Pascal Zurlinden has joined the German outfit as the director at Porsche GT Motorsport will now become Porsche’s FE team director on top of his role in the GT works team.
The Frenchman has been working for Porsche at the Weissach development centre since 2014, first on the LMP1 project and more recently on the GT programme since 2017.
The Formula E project will be another challenge, but one which the Frenchman is more than up to. Speaking after the Porsche 99X Electric was unveiled earlier today, Zurlinden said:
“I’m looking forward to also being part of the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team from now on and supporting my colleagues with my experience.
“The Formula E concept is very interesting and is different from traditional motorsport series, a new and exciting task that I am really looking forward to. Of course, it is also great to see so many familiar faces from my time in LMP1 and to be working with the team again.”
This all-new Porsche Racing Formula E car signifies the start of the German manufacturer’s electric journey and the path that it wants to take in the future and will be using the all-electric racing series as a platform to develop electric cars in the future.
Now less than three months ahead of the start of the season, Porsche will be looking forward to their first on-track session for pre-season testing at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia during October before the first round of the new season which is at Ad Diriyah on 22-23 November.