London, Jan 27 (IANS) The next eight drivers to join Formula E’s Drivers’ Club have been revealed with Narain Karthikeyan, Bruno Senna, Sebastien Bourdais, Oriol Servia, Daniel Abt, Christijan Albers, Franck Montagny and John R. Hildebrand Jr. showing their support for the new, fully electric racing series beginning in September.
Earlier this month, the first set of eight drivers, including Karun Chadhok, expressed their willingness to race in the FIA Formula E Championship.
The Drivers’ Club will allow each member to experience the new fully-electric Spark-Renault SRT_01E Formula E car which recently made its public debut driving along the iconic Las Vegas Strip.
India’s Karthikeyan has raced in Formula 1 for Jordan and HRT, as well as testing for Williams F1, and last year won five races in the Auto GP Series.
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“Sustainability is the current buzzword in automotive technology, and its application in a gruelling motorsport environment like Formula E will definitely help at many different levels,” said Karthikeyan.
“On the racing front as well, the series is breaking new ground by taking the sport to the fans in an unprecedented way across the world.”
Brazil’s Senna, nephew of the late Ayrton Senna, raced in Formula 1 from 2010 to 2012 driving for HRT, Renault and Williams before switching to sportscars and the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Frenchman Bourdais is one of the most successful drivers in the history of the Champ Car World Series, having won four successive titles from 2004 to 2007, as well as racing for Toro Rosso in Formula 1 in 2008 and the start of 2009.
Spaniard Servia has been racing in the US since 1998, winning the Indy Lights title in 1999 and steadily rising through the ranks to compete in the IndyCar Series.
Abt, 21 from Germany, comes from a successful motorsport family competing in German F3, F3 Euroseries, GP3 and now GP2.
Albers is a Dutch racing driver who after enjoying success in DTM drove in Formula 1 from 2005 until 2007 before returning to sportscars.
Montagny has competed on a variety of platforms from Formula 3 and World Series to Formula 1, including three podiums in the Le Mans 24 Hours.
US driver Hildebrand Jr. has raced in Indy Lights and IndyCar, winning the 2011 Rookie of the Year, in addition to testing with the Force India F1 team.The Drivers’ Club line-up so far:
Daniel Abt (GER)
Christijan Albers (NLD)
Marco Andretti (USA)
Sébastien Bourdais (FRA)
Sebastien Buemi (CHE)
Karun Chandhok (IND)
Lucas di Grassi (BRA)
J.R. Hildebrand (USA)
Ma Qing Hua (CHN)
Narain Karthikeyan (IND)
Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA)
Franck Montagny (FRA)
Takuma Sato (JPN)
Bruno Senna (BRA)
Oriol Servia (ESP)
Adrien Tambay (FRA)
