With the new partnership between the ABT team and Lola-Yamaha, what will Cupra’s role be in Formula E?
In recent weeks, the ABT team has defined its new course in Formula E with the new agreement with Lola and Yamaha for the supply of the powertrain starting from next season; however it remains to be defined what will Cupra’s role be?.
The Spanish manufacturer accompanied the return of the ABT team to Formula E in 2023 and the same team declared in a press release, following the new agreement with Lola-Yamaha, that “main partners, sponsors (…) would be announced in the next months”.
In an interview with Il Messaggero, Werner TietzCupra vice president for research and development, had declared that the “Formula E is a category of interest to us.” At the same time he ruled out a future as a builder in the short term. Yet at the beginning of 2023 Cupra’s plans seemed to be different, namely to create something important year after year.
Read also: Formula E | Gen3 EVO: All-wheel drive and acceleration better than Formula 1
Has Yamaha ruined Cupra’s plans?
One of hypothesis accredited by e-formel is that Yamaha is the main problem of the future of Cupra. Yamaha, in fact, is one of the competitors of Ducati, a brand of the Volkswagen group which also controls Cupra.
However, Cupra’s stay with ABT is not entirely out of the question. Tietz, in fact, declared that:
“We are ‘just’ a sponsor of ABT. We normally make sponsorship decisions at the end of the season.”
Indeed, a clear commitment to a long-term partnership looks different. The joint project between ABT and Cupra in Extreme E has concluded at the end of last year. The team withdrew from the off-road series after three seasons. Cupra was also forced to leave the fully electric touring car championship ETCR after a two-year guest appearance as the series did not continue.
There Formula Eso it is the only fully electric program remaining for Cupra but it remains to be seen how and for how long.
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*Cover image, credit: Alastair Staley
