Electric series positioned as Formula E feeder category set for 2024
ACE Championship, a two-step junior electric racing series touted as a feeder series to Formula E, is set to begin next year with ex-Mahindra boss Dilbagh Gill in charge.
The series, unveiled at the Hyderabad E-Prix, has pledged to provide an affordable championship for junior drivers, while also providing opportunities for new talent to get into motorsport.
There will be two levels in the ACE Championship - a top-tier "Championship" and a lower-level "Challenger Series", although one of the quirks of the series is that the same cars will be used in both.
The specification of the cars is currently not known, although the images provided with the ACE release appear to show a Gen2 Formula E car with a revised bodywork package.
It is expected that the ACE car will have similar performance points to Formula E's Gen2 machinery. The release states that the series will run on "a regional format and on regional circuits across continents", which effectively renders the cast of circuits to be used as a complete unknown, or if it will run on the Formula E undercard.
Alongside Gill, the series is being supported by the India-based ACE Group, which is linked to Hyderabad E-Prix sponsor Greenko.
“The ACE Championship is about innovation in motorsport and about opportunity," said Gill.
"We are looking at the ACE Championship to provide representation to people who are interested in driving, and engineers, around the world who have not had the opportunity to date and giving them a chance to level up.
ACE Championship car
Photo by: LAT
“The bedrock of ACE Championship is to provide technology, opportunity and a platform to excel. This is going to be the first championship in the world where one single race car can compete in two different championships – each team can have two different drivers in the ACE Championship and ACE Challenger series, driving the same car, but with two different power levels.
"We are providing a pathway for our drivers in the ACE Championship, at a low cost, but with high performance.
“ACE Championship is going to be focused around the three ‘Ds’ – we are going to be daring, we are going to be different and we are going to be digital."
Formula E and Extreme E founder Alejandro Agag will join the advisory board, while former Mahindra Formula E driver Nick Heidfeid will reunite with Gill to serve as the series' development driver and advisor.
“When Dilbagh talked to me about this programme I was interested straight away – an electric junior racing championship has not been done before," said Heidfeld.
“We want ACE Championship to be fair and affordable, and attract youngsters into the series from all regions of the world to make the step into motorsport.
"In ACE Championship, we are trying to create something which gives young drivers the possibility to get in into the sport on good circuits and move forward in their careers."
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