The global championship, which was unveiled in Johannesburg on Monday, has been co-founded by three key players in the A1 Grand Prix World Cup of Motorsport of 2004/05 to 2008/09.
Liu Yu and Tokyo Sexwale, the former seat holders of the national A1GP teams from China and South Africa respectively, have joined forces with the championship’s general manager and then commercial head during its development and first two seasons, Stephen Watson, to establish the Elite World Cup in time for a winter-season campaign in 2024/25.
Their series has no connection with the A1GP revival planned by the Origin Sports Group, which announced in May that it has bought the rights to the name and is seeking to raise £80 million for a relaunch.
The founders of the Elite World Cup have revealed that they already have the finance in place to get the series off the ground with the build 50 EV racers, which will most likely be based on the 2000bhp Evija hypercar or supersportscar first shown in 2019.
They are engaged in final talks with Lotus Cars and parent company Geely to finalise an agreement to use the Evija, which provided the centrepiece for Monday’s launch in South Africa.
The Elite World Cup is aiming to attract buy-in from 25 national teams using a similar franchise model to the original A1GP.
Ex-Formula 3000 racer Watson, who was subsequently tournament director of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, explained that discussions are already underway with potential franchisees.
“We have shared our ideas with some parties and we have strong interest already — we have people telling us they are coming in,” he told Autosport.
Source: Autosport