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After Techeetah Formula E's frontman, Jean-Eric Vergne clinched the drivers' championship title in the finale of Season 4 of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship, the Chinese team announced it will take over from Virgin Racing as the DS works team in Season 5.
Established in Paris in June 2014, the marque traces its roots back to the iconic Citroen DS, first launched in 1955. “We’re very excited about teaming up with DS Automobiles as we enter a new era of Formula E with the Gen2 car," said Techeetah's President Edmund Chu. "DS has extensive experience in Formula E having been a championship manufacturer since Season Two and finishing within the top three each season."
Narrowly missing out on the teams' championship - by just two points, in fact - the Chinese team took Season 4 of the championship by storm as a customer team of Renault. “We’ve had some brilliant battles on track this season with DS and we can’t wait to combine the wealth of experience and expertise of arguably two of the best teams in the paddock," added Chu.
Ahead of the New York finale, Techeetah Team Principal Mark Preston praised Renault for its engineering ability, claiming it had been "the backbone of the whole campaign." Beating its powertrain provider and rival Formula E team Renault e.dams by a full 129 points, Techeetah defied the odds in Season 4. "We’re the small customer team that could take on the giants, a team where anything is possible," said Chu. "This is the spirit that we’re taking into our new partnership with DS and we are looking forward to a very competitive time together. Everyone in the team is hungry for the challenge and will be working even harder next year to clinch both Championships.”
With plans to roll out a fleet of electric road cars in 2019, DS will be continuing its research and development into electric cars on the city street tracks in Season 5 with the new DS E-Tense FE 19 Gen2 challenger. “Our involvement in Formula E is an integral part of DS Automobiles’ commitment to the electrification of our model line-up, said Xavier Mestelan Pinon, Director, DS Performance. "The DS E-Tense FE 19’s development began several months ago with the objective of being in a position to challenge for the top step of the podium from the opening race of the 2018/2019 campaign."
“Techeetah has demonstrated their exceptional skill and knowledge in electric street-racing over the last season and we’re looking forward to combining our expertise to create a championship winning team and I am convinced that our two entities will dovetail perfectly,” added Mestelan Pinon.
Full details of the partnership, including logo, livery, management and driver line up will be revealed on 1 October 2018. Click here to recap on Vergne's epic victory in New York City.