IndyCar and NASCAR outfit Chip Ganassi Racing has become the seventh team to confirm their entry in the upcoming Extreme E championship.
It will be the first electric motorsport programme for the team, with the team having significant success in its pre-existing programmes in IndyCar, NASCAR, and GT racing that span over three decades.
Team-owner Chip Ganassi says the Extreme E championship offers a new challenge for all participants and provides an opportunity to forge a new direction for the future of motorsport.
“When I started our team in 1990, one of the founding principles I built it on was innovation.
“I’ve always been passionate about pushing the boundaries of what is possible, and Extreme E checks that box for us in a big way.
“It represents an opportunity in motor racing to use the latest technologies to attract a new, younger audience to this great sport of ours.
“Everything about Extreme E is cool, from the car to the race format and the in-built technology. We’re thrilled to join the championship and to play a part in developing the future of our sport.”
Series founder Alejandro Agag expressed excitement regarding Ganassi’s entry into the championship.
“It’s fantastic to be able to confirm Chip Ganassi Racing’s participation in Extreme E, marking this hugely successful team’s progression into electric racing.
“CGR boasts a tremendous heritage and pedigree in motorsport, achieving consistent success over three decades in some of the toughest single-seater and sportscar series around.
“Of course, our championship poses a very different kind of challenge, but the team has proven itself to be a winner in every discipline it has contested and clearly possesses the skillset to similarly excel in Extreme E.
“I am confident that his team will add great value to Extreme E in our drive to propagate the environmental message and engineer long-lasting change through first-class sporting entertainment.”
Agag has also admitted that the first round of the inaugural championship could be delayed by a few weeks owing to the ongoing pandemic.
The series is scheduled to begin in Senegal on January 22, 2021.
Image: Chip Ganassi Racing