Venturi have announced Maro Engel will join their Formula E team for the third series of the electric championship. Stephane Sarrazin will also continue with the team.
Engel hasn’t raced in single seaters since 2007, when he competed in the British Formula 3 championship. The German has competed in a wide range of other series in the meantime, though, and is looking forward to adding Formula E to his CV.
“Racing on street circuits, in my opinion, is the most challenging form of racing there is,” Engel told e-racing.net. “There is no discussion on track limits, the challenge for drivers is huge and one positive is that we’re bringing racing to the city, so the spectator basically walks out of the their doorstep and they are straight at the track as opposed to having to come out to a race track. It’s something that, from what I’ve seen, has been received very well from the public.”
Engel has been following the series since its beginning back in October 2014, and got his first chance to test with Venturi ahead of the second season.
“It was just a short test, about 20 or 30 laps, but it was a great opportunity.”
Engel said the test went well, and Venturi gave him further tests at the beginning of this year as they developed their season three car.
“From there on we spent a lot of time developing the car and it gave me a very good insight into the Formula E car and what Formula E really is about and it’s something I really enjoyed,” he said.
Engel also said he’s looking forward to learning from his team mate. Sarrazin has been in the electric series since the beginning.
“I’ll be looking to learn from his knowledge that he’s built up,” the German said. “Hopefully together we can push the team on and make it a successful season for all of us.”
Image credit: Wikimedia user Byggxx
