Two months is a long time in motorsport, especially when that period spans across seasons, with the results of the previous campaign consigned to the past as new optimism builds for the year ahead.
There was certainly plenty of positivity, smiles and even laughs amongst drivers Jean-Eric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne during DS Penske’s press roundtable at the end of last month. It was there that both drivers were confirmed as staying with the Formula E team for a second season in the all-electric championship, which will also be the sophomore season of the DS and Penske collaboration.
The Penske name is synonymous with success in motorsport and Jay Penske, son of IndyCar tycoon Roger, heads the team formerly known as Dragon that, under its previous moniker, joined the championship from the outset back in 2014. Under its old guise, though, the team struggled for success, recording only two wins during eight seasons – both of which came in the first two years – as it went up against the might of manufacturer-backed outfits.
Enter DS, a brand that joined Formula E ahead of the 2015-16 season before its powertrain partnership with the Techeetah team helped guide it to back-to-back drivers’ and teams’ titles between 2018-2020. With the team not currently racing, a large number of staff have transitioned over to DS Penske, including race-winning engineer for Penske Nigel Beresford who, after a stint in America, became integral to Dragon’s early success and then subsequently at Techeetah.
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The collaboration between DS and Penske according to Vergne – whose second Formula E title came with DS Techeetah after his first came when Techeetah ran customer Renault powertrains – has come together well over the past 12 months, with former NIO 333 driver Oliver Turvey adding his expertise in a reserve role that has added sporting advisor responsibilities.
“I think the integration of DS with Penske has been quite easy in a way,” Vergne said. “From the first race, everything was working fine within the engineering department, marketing and communication – it felt that everything was working very well from day one.
Source: Autosport