Virgin announces ‘multi-year’ Audi Formula E supply

Virgin Racing has confirmed a multi-year agreement with Audi that will see the British squad supplied with a customer Formula E powertrain.

Having previously used powertrains from DS Automobiles as part of its collaboration with the French manufacturer, Virgin cut its ties with DS at the end of season four in favour of switching to Audi’s e-tron FE05 cars from the start of the upcoming 2018/19 campaign.

“After four fantastic seasons securing seven wins and 19 podiums, and recently, a successful partnership with DS Automobiles, we have opted to take a new direction for the next generation of Formula E,” Virgin Racing managing director Sylvain Filippi said.

“From the outset, it was always the team’s intention to partner with an OEM as Virgin’s core business areas don’t involve the production of automobiles. With Audi Sport together with the drive of our majority team owner Envision, we feel this is the perfect partnership to ensure we continue fighting at the front of the grid.”

Season five will mark the first time Audi has supplied a customer team in the all-electric series.

Audi recovered from a reliability-plagued start to season four to beat Techeetah - which will take on DS powertrains from season five - to the teams’ title, becoming the first outfit other than Renault e.dams to win the championship.

“We are glad that in the new Formula E season together with Virgin Racing four Audi e-tron FE05 cars will fight for points and trophies,” head of Audi motorsport Dieter Gass added.

“The team has been one of the key players in Formula E ever since the series was founded – both in terms of its racing performances and all off-track activities.

“This makes Virgin Racing’s choice of using our powertrain a particular pleasure. This confidence also confirms the excellent work that our engineers are doing together with their colleagues from our development partner Schaeffler.”