Extreme E – Veloce have announced W Series Champion and Williams F1 development driver, Jamie Chadwick, as the first of their driver lineup.
With the first season of Extreme E set to kick off in March with the Desert X-Prix taking place in Saudi Arabia, Chadwick is the first of the Veloce Racing drivers to be revealed. The electric off-road series is unique in that each team’s driver lineup must have both a male and female driver.
Chadwick, who is currently racing in the Formula Regional European Championship for Prema Powerteam, dominated the inaugural season of W Series, taking three poles, two wins and finishing on the podium in five of the six rounds.
“I am proud to be driving for Veloce Racing in such a revolutionary championship as Extreme E,” said Chadwick. “I have been involved with Veloce for a very long time and they are like a family to me, so I am incredibly honoured to be their female driver for what is such an exciting and important race series.
“Climate change is something that affects us all, so I’m really keen to start doing my part to fight it. I can safely say that testing the car was one of the best and most fun experiences I have had in my career so far. I can’t wait to get out to the amazing venues where we’ll be racing next year; these are some of the most beautiful and endangered locations on our planet. Both on and off-track, it promises to be an incredibly rewarding journey.”
Veloce believe the British driver’s championship win along with her work with Girls on Track and speed during her test in the Extreme E Odyssey 21 car, made her the perfect choice for their lineup.
“We are delighted to have Jamie on-board at Veloce for the first season of Extreme E,” said Veloce Racing’s Team Manager, Ian Davies. “She is a very quick, talented and committed young driver, with a pedigree that quite frankly speaks for itself. Having won titles in both sportscars and single-seaters, there is no reason at all why she shouldn’t transfer those skills and win in Extreme E, in what promises to be a very high-calibre field.
“Her first test in the Odyssey 21 during our shakedown in France last week was a very positive and encouraging start. Her experience from single-seater and GT competition was invaluable to the early development of our car – from quick driver changes to initial and mid-corner turn-in – and she had significant input into our engineering refinements.
“Jamie would be the first to acknowledge that off-road driving is completely new to her, but she is a fast learner and she listened carefully to everything we had to say, worked well with the engineers, took it all on-board and – most importantly – got quicker and quicker with every run. We are all very excited to see what she can achieve when we go racing next year.”
While Extreme E’s Founder and CEO, Alejandro Agag, said he was very excited to have Chadwick in the series and to see what she’ll accomplish during the debut season: “I’m delighted to welcome Jamie Chadwick to the Extreme E family, she is an incredibly successful young female driver and I’m sure she will turn her hand to off-road racing very quickly.
“The series is taking shape nicely ahead of our first race in March 2021 and I’m excited to see Jamie, along with all the other drivers, behind the wheel of the championship’s electric SUV. The pioneering E-SUV series will mark an altogether new challenge for Chadwick, as it will represent her competitive off-road debut. In preparation for this, the 22-year-old spent last week driving the Odyssey 21 at Fontjoncouse in southern France, with further seat time scheduled during a group test at MotorLand Arágon in Spain next month.”