It has recently been confirmed by ABT Sportsline that Mattias Ekström will be its male driver and Cupra its main partner to take part in the upcoming Extreme E race series. The series features electric powered four-wheel-drive off-road race cars competing across rugged terrain in remote locations around the globe.
Extreme E recently hit the headlines after Lewis Hamilton, Formula 1 world champion, announced he was entering his X44 team. The race series is also designed to create environmental awareness in vulnerable locations.
What’s special here is that Cupra, who are best known as Seat’s high performance motorsport division, and ABT Sportsline, who are a German performance and engine tuning company, are continuing their commitment to electric car racing. Cupra, who will benefit from ABT Sportsline high performance tuning, will be the first car manufacturer involved in the series and offer Ekström their vast experience in electric car racing.
Cupra is already involved with PURE ETCR, which is a new touring car championship featuring high-end electric cars. This series, which also features teams from Alfa Romeo, Hyundai and MG, is designed to give the world’s leading car manufacturers a global stage to showcase the latest electric car technology in a high performance arena. It’s good to see Cupra committing once again to electric car racing with Extreme E.
Alejandro Agag, Founder and CEO of Extreme E, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Cupra on-board as Extreme E’s first automotive partner, an announcement that truly underscores ABT Sportsline’s commitment to the series. Both brands are trailblazers in the domain of electrification, and this marks another step in the right direction towards sparking a genuine change in the wider automotive market.”
Dr. Werner Tietz, SEAT Executive Vice-President for R&D, said: “The decision to become the first automotive manufacturer to participate in Extreme E and reinforce our co-operation with ABT is proof of both partners’ shared vision of re-inventing the world of high-performance cars through electrification.”
Hans-Jürgen Abt, Managing Partner of ABT Sportsline, said: “We love innovation, competition, e-mobility and the feeling of being a pioneer in something completely new. That is why we were involved in Formula E from the very beginning in 2014 and why we also decided to become a member of the Extreme E family. With CUPRA, we now have a partner at our side who, just like us, firmly believes in the revolutionary concept, both in the sporting field and in terms of marketing off the track.”
