Leonardo DiCaprio Joins Forces With Venturi For Tenth Formula E Team
Actor
and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio entered in a joint venture
with Venturi Automobiles to field the tenth team in the new FIA Formula
E Championship.
FIA’s Formula E Championship, beginning in September 2014, is the world’s first fully-electric race series.
The new Venturi Grand Prix Formula E Team has been co-founded by
DiCaprio and Gildo Pallanca Pastor, founder of pioneering EV
manufacturer Venturi Automobiles, together with Bert Hedaya and
Francesco Costa; the team will be based in Monaco,
“The future of our planet depends on our ability to embrace
fuel-efficient, clean-energy vehicles,” DiCaprio said. “Venturi Grand
Prix has shown tremendous foresight in their decision to create an
environmentally friendly racing team, and I am happy to be a part of
this effort.”
Venturi Grand Prix said it will now be put forward to the FIA for
approval as the tenth and final team to enter the new zero emission
series. Venturi joins international names from around the globe with
IndyCar outfits Andretti Autosport and Dragon Racing, Asia’s China
Racing, Super Aguri and Mahindra Racing, and European squads Drayson
Racing, e.dams, Audi Sport ABT and Virgin Racing.
The team said it is centered around Venturi Automobiles, describing
itself as a leader in high performance electric vehicles developing a
range of sports, urban and utilitarian cars, as well as being the
current holders of the world land speed record for an electric vehicle
with 495 kilometers per hour (307mph).
The Venturi team also explained it plans to become a constructor from
the second season, building its own Formula E car using a powertrain
based on the one used in its 3,000 horsepower electric streamliner –
Venturi VBB-3 – unveiled earlier this year in Wendover, Utah, by H.S.H.
Prince Albert II of Monaco.
“Venturi has been a pioneer in electric high performance vehicles for
more than a decade and Formula E gives us the fantastic opportunity to
further improve our advanced technologies through motorsport, as well as
compete all over the world,” said Gildo. “It also gives us the chance
to be part of a new racing program with a project that really shares
Venturi’s values for clean mobility, innovation in the field of electric
propulsion and energy efficiency optimization.”