Mahindra Racing on Monday unveiled the M5 Electro race car ahead of the fifth season of the 2018-19 ABB FIA Formula E Championship which begins on December 15 in Ad Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.
Unlike the earlier four seasons in which the drivers had to change the car midway through the race, the second generation car would race for the entire 45 minute duration of the race and can reach a top speed of 280 km/hour.
Mahindra Racing, the only Indian team in Formula E, also announced that German driver Pascal Wehrlein, and 32-year-old Belgian Jerome Dambrosio would take the steering wheel for them in the 13-race season. Wehrlein, a former Formula one driver, would be making his debut in this series.
Speaking about the team’s preparation and vision for the new season, Pawan Goenka, managing director, Mahindra and Mahindra and chairman, Mahindra Racing said, the team has been doing pretty well in the last few years and would want to build on that performance.
Mahindra Racing finished fourth in the Teams’ Championship last season and has consistently finished in the top-5 since the inaugural season, where they finished 8th.
The new season would also see a few rule changes with the races moving away from the lap system and the winner of the race would be decided by the fastest driver over 45 minutes with one power saving lap.
Goenka said the next aim of Mahindra Racing was to make India as one of the destinations for the race. “Formula E organisers are very keen to do a race in India. We have been talking to various officials at the central government level and city-level to see whether it is possible to bring this to India and we could be able to do that, then we will create excitement in Formula E,” added Goenka.