Kiro Race Co

The Kiro Race Co, competing as Cupra Kiro, is an American-owned, British-based motor racing team that currently competes in the FIA Formula E Championship, an all-electric racing series. The team was previously owned and managed by Chinese companies Lisheng Sports and Gusto Engineering respectively, before being acquired by The Forest Road Company, a Los Angeles-based investment firm.^[1][2][3]

Cupra Kiro

Founded	2013 (as Team China Racing (NEXTEV))
Base	Silverstone Park, United Kingdom
Team principal(s)	Alex Hui
Current series	Formula E
Current drivers	3. David Beckmann 33. Dan Ticktum
Drivers' Championships	FIA Formula E: 2014–15: Nelson Piquet Jr.
Website	https://www.kiroraceco.com/

The team, previously competing under the names China Racing, NEXTEV TCR, NEXTEV Nio, Nio Formula E Team, Nio 333 Racing, and Electric Racing Technologies (ERT) Formula E Team, has participated in the FIA Formula E World Championship since its inaugural season, winning the first Drivers' Championship with Nelson Piquet Jr.^[4]

History

China Racing was the second team (behind the Drayson Racing project, which then transformed into Trulli GP) to announce its involvement in Formula E, back in March 2013.^[5]

2014–15 season

Antonio García (front) and Nelson Piquet Jr. (back) at the 2014 Punta del Este ePrix, running the original liveries.

Charles Pic in his final Formula E appearance at the 2015 Berlin ePrix, running the redesigned 2015 livery.

China Racing announced Nelson Piquet Jr. and Ho-Pin Tung as their drivers for the inaugural season.^[6] Over the course of the season, the team used multiple drivers in car no. 88, with Tung taking part in three rounds, Antonio García in two rounds, Charles Pic in four rounds, before ultimately picking Oliver Turvey for the final double-header weekend in London. Piquet, on the other hand, completed the full season and managed to win the championship in the final race of the season.^[7]

In 2015, the China Racing name and branding had phased out. For the Long Beach ePrix, the team introduced radical changes to their livery, removing the red and yellow which had been previously associated with the team and replacing it with NEXTEV branding.^[8] The move was finalised in the following round in Monaco, which the team entered as NEXTEV TCR instead of China Racing.^[9]

Despite Piquet winning the championship, NEXTEV TCR only finished fourth in the Teams' Championship, as his teammates only added 8 points, the team scoring 152 points in total.

2015–16 season

NEXTEV TCR chose to develop their own powertrain for the second season and began testing it in the summer of 2015. The team also confirmed Piquet, who was signed on a multi-year deal.^[10] Turvey was later confirmed as Piquet's teammate for the season.^[11] In 2016, NEXTEV acquired the whole team, which, at the time, was still partially-owned by Team China Racing (hence the 'TCR' part in its name).^[12]

The 2015–16 season was a disappointment for the team. Piquet and Turvey only scored 19 points in total, falling down to ninth place in the Teams' Championship, only ahead of Trulli, who withdrew from the championship in its early stages. Turvey scored the team's best season result with a sixth place at the first round in Beijing.

2016–17 season

Piquet and Turvey were retained for the 2016–17 season.^[13] The team, previously operated by Campos Racing, was set to form its own operational and engineering team, led by Gerry Hughes.^[14] A new branding, NEXTEV Nio, was introduced for the season.

While the team's performance was an improvement over the previous season, it was still unable to compete for either of the Drivers' and Teams' Championships, despite setting pole positions in Hong Kong (with Piquet) and Mexico City (with Turvey). NEXTEV Nio would finish sixth with 59 points.

2017–18 season

Oliver Turvey driving the NextEV NIO Sport 003 at the 2018 Berlin ePrix.

Piquet left the team after a performance clause allowed him to exit the team for Jaguar. Luca Filippi was announced as his replacement, while Turvey stayed with the team.^[15] Ma Qinghua joined the team as a reserve driver.^[16] During the season, he subbed for Filippi in Paris and Turvey in New York, who was forced to withdraw from the double-header after a hand injury.^[17][18] The NextEV brand was slowly phasing out as the team now competed under the name Nio Formula E Team. The NextEV brand stayed in the name of the powertrain.

Nio cemented their position at the back of the grid and only finished eighth in Teams' Championship with 47 points. Turvey, however, managed a podium spot with a second-place finish in Mexico City.

2018–19 season

Tom Dillmann and Oliver Turvey were announced as the driver pairing for the 2018–19 season, meaning Turvey would compete for the team for a fourth straight full season.^[19] The NextEV brand remained on the car, but the powertrain only featured Nio in its name.

The season would prove to be another disappointment as the team only accumulated 7 points over the course of the season, all of them with Turvey, placing them last (eleventh) in the Teams' Championship.

2019–20 season

The team underwent a change in ownership and is currently managed by Lisheng Sports and Gusto Engineering.^[1] On 10 September 2019, the definitive entry list was revealed, in which the team was listed under the name Nio 333 Formula E Team.^[20] The team will not be using its own powertrains and it instead acquired last year's powertrain from GEOX Dragon.^[21] Nio, however, kept their manufacturer status due to their new powertrain being homologated as such by the FIA in late August.^[22] Ma Qinghua also joined the team on a permanent basis, racing alongside the team mainstay Turvey.^[21] Qinghua, however, was unable to participate in the 2020 Berlin ePrix due to Chinese travel restrictions, and was replaced by Daniel Abt.

2020–21 season

Turvey driving the NIO 333 001 at the 2021 Puebla ePrix.

Tom Blomqvist joined Nio 333 for the 2020–21 season to partner Turvey.^[23] In February 2021, Adam Carroll was announced as the reserve driver.^[24] The team scored points for the first time since the 2019 New York City ePrix after Turvey secured two points finishes at the Diriyah ePrix double-header. Blomqvist achieved the same feat at the following Rome ePrix double-header.

2021–22 season

Turvey was retained by the team while Blomqvist departed and was replaced by Carlin Formula 2 driver and former Williams Driver Academy member Dan Ticktum. The team scored their first points of the season in the second race of the Rome ePrix, where Turvey finished 7th and Ticktum finished 10th, which was his first points finish in Formula E.^[25]

2022–23 season

Ticktum and Sette Câmara at the 2023 Berlin ePrix

Turvey was released from the team to join DS Penske as a reserve driver. He was replaced by Sérgio Sette Câmara, who partnered with Ticktum.

2023–24 season

ERT Formula E logo

Ahead of pre-season testing, it was announced that the team would rebrand into ERT Formula E Team, with the Nio name leaving the team.^[26]

2024–25 season

The team was rebranded again as Kiro Race Co ahead of the season. Acquired by The Forest Road Company, the team will race under an American license. The team has ceased to develop their own powertrain, becoming a customer team of Porsche utilising the old 2023–24 powertrain.^[3] The newly rebranded team tested Ticktum alongside David Beckmann at the Madrid test.^[27] Both drivers were confirmed as the full driver lineup, while Sette Câmara was released after two seasons with the team. This was also the last driver lineup to be announced and was done so the week of the São Paulo ePrix . Ahead of the São Paulo ePrix weekend, Cupra entered into a partnership with Kiro Race Co to enter the season as Cupra Kiro.^[28]

Results

Year	Chassis	Powertrain	Tyres	No.	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Points	T.C.
China Racing / NEXTEV TCR1
2014–15	Spark SRT01-e	SRT01-e2	M			BEI	PUT	PDE	BUE	MIA	LBH	MCO	BER	MSC	LDN							152	4th
				88	Ho-Pin Tung	16	11		11
					Antonio García			11						19
					Charles Pic					17	16	8	15
					Oliver Turvey										9	9
				99	Nelson Piquet Jr.	8	Ret	2	3	5	1	3	4	1	5	7
2015–16	Spark SRT01-e	NEXTEV TCR FormulaE 001	M			BEI	PUT	PDE	BUE	MEX	LBH	PAR	BER	LDN								19	9th
				1	Nelson Piquet Jr.	15†	8	15†	12	13	Ret	Ret	13	12	9
				88	Oliver Turvey	6	Ret	12	9	11	12	13	12	15†	10
NEXTEV Nio
2016–17	Spark SRT01-e	NEXTEV FormulaE 002	M			HKG	MRK	BUE	MEX	MCO	PAR	BER		NYC		MTL						59	6th
				3	Nelson Piquet Jr.	11	16	5	9	4	7	12	12	11	16	13	16
				88	Oliver Turvey	8	7	9	Ret	13	12	10	9	6	14	15	17
Nio Formula E Team
2017–18	Spark SRT01-e	NextEV Nio Sport 003	M			HKG		MRK	SCL	MEX	PDE	RME	PAR	BER	ZUR	NYC						47	8th
				16	Oliver Turvey	16	6	Ret	16	2	7	12	7	5	9	DNS
					Ma Qinghua												13
				68	Luca Filippi	10	Ret	16	12	14	13	13		17	Ret	15	Ret
					Ma Qinghua								17
2018–19	Spark SRT05e	Nio Sport 004	M			ADR	MRK	SCL	MEX	HKG	SYX	RME	PAR	MCO	BER	BRN	NYC					7	11th
				8	Tom Dillmann	14	17	Ret	15	12	12	15	Ret	14	19	16	Ret	14
				16	Oliver Turvey	13	16	8	12	9	11	13	14	Ret	18	15	10	13
Nio 333 FE Team
2019–20	Spark SRT05e	Nio FE-0053	M			DIR		SCL	MEX	MRK	BER		BER		BER							0	12th
				3	Oliver Turvey	15	DSQ	11	13	21	16	18	16	22	19	21
				33	Ma Qinghua	20	19	16	Ret	23
					Daniel Abt						18	16	15	18	Ret	20
2020–21	Spark SRT05e	Nio 333 001	M			DIR		RME		VLC		MCO	PUE		NYC		LDN		BER			19	12th
				8	Oliver Turvey	10	6	DNS	14	NC	8	19	11	Ret	Ret	Ret	15	14	19	19
				88	Tom Blomqvist	18	18	10	8	NC	17	14	13	Ret	16	21	NC	19	NC	10
2021–22	Spark SRT05e	Nio 333 001	M			DRH		MEX	RME		MCO	BER		JAK	MRK	NYC		LDN		SEO		7	10th
				3	Oliver Turvey	19	18	14	17	7	14	16	17	12	17	15	16	15	14	Ret	15
				33	Dan Ticktum	18	19	18	18	10	12	19	19	20	18	17	12	17	Ret	Ret	Ret
2022–23	Formula E Gen3	NIO 333 ER9	H			MEX	DIR		HYD	CPT	SPL	BER		MCO	JAK		PRT	RME		LDN		42	9th
				3	Sérgio Sette Câmara	16	15	17	5	12	16	16	15	14	17	DNS	16	8	16	DSQ	13
				33	Dan Ticktum	17	14	10	Ret	6	17	Ret	10	6	13	11	13	13	9	7	9
ERT Formula E Team
2023–24	Formula E Gen3	ERT X24	H			MEX	DIR		SAP	TOK	MIS		MCO	BER		SHA		POR		LDN		23	11th
				3	Sérgio Sette Câmara	DNS	9	18	DSQ	10	15	6	19	16	13	13	18	14	14	12	11
				33	Dan Ticktum	18	21	Ret	16	18	4	14	13	14	17	20	21	17	15	13	14
Cupra Kiro
2024–25	Formula E Gen3 Evo	Porsche 99X Electric WCG3	H			SAP	MEX	JED		MIA	MCO		TOK		SHA		JAK	BER		LDN
				3	David Beckmann	Ret
				33	Dan Ticktum	8

Notes

• ^1 – The team's official name was changed to NEXTEV TCR prior to the 2015 Monaco ePrix.
• ^2 – In the inaugural season, all teams were supplied with a spec powertrain by McLaren.
• ^3 – The powertrain is a rebadged Penske EV-3 used by GEOX Dragon in the 2018–19 season.^[22]
• † – Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Footnotes

References

1. Smith, Sam (29 July 2019). "REVEALED: NIO Shake-Up Hastens New Team Structure". e-racing365.com. Archived from the original on 2 August 2019. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
2. "EV startup NIO sold its Formula e racing team". 6 August 2019. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
3. "FOREST ROAD ACQUIRES FORMULA E TEAM". Kiro Race Co. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
4. "NIO - NEXTEV TCR wins the Drivers Title in the first Formula E Championship ever". www.nio.io. Archived from the original on 9 July 2020. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
5. "China Racing joins all-electric Formula E". China Daily. 1 March 2013. Archived from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
6. "Nelson Piquet Jr and Ho-Pin Tung sign with China Racing". Motorsport.com. 21 August 2014. Archived from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
7. Smith, Sam (28 June 2015). "London ePrix: Piquet takes title, Bird wins as Sarrazin is penalised". Motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 5 December 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
8. Biesbrouck, Tim (3 April 2015). "Radical new livery design for NextEV Team China Racing". Electric Autosport. Archived from the original on 18 April 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
9. "MONACO E-PRIX - Official Entry List" (PDF). FIA Formula E. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
10. Smith, Sam (22 June 2015). "Exclusive: New NEXTEV TCR Formula E powertrain package runs". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 6 September 2019.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
11. Elizalde, Pablo (14 September 2015). "Turvey confirmed at NEXTEV TCR for second Formula E season". Motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
12. Smith, Sam (1 February 2016). "NEXTEV set to acquire whole Formula E team". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 6 September 2019.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
13. van Leeuwen, Andrew (23 August 2016). "NextEV retains Piquet and Turvey". Motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
14. Smith, Sam (24 April 2016). "NEXTEV TCR to split with Campos for season three". Motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
15. Mitchell, Scott (2 October 2017). "NIO announces Luca Filippi as Piquet Jr's replacement". Motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2019. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
16. Mitchell, Scott (23 November 2017). "Ma joins NIO as reserve Formula E driver". Motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
17. Kalinauckas, Alex (17 April 2018). "Ma replaces Filippi at NIO for Paris ePrix". Motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 10 April 2019. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
18. Klein, Jamie (14 July 2018). "Ma replaces injured Turvey for second New York race". Motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
19. Hine, Nathan (9 October 2018). "NIO SIGN DILLMANN AND TURVEY FOR 2018-19 FORMULA E CAMPAIGN". thecheckeredflag.co.uk. The Checkered Flag. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
20. "Full Formula E team names revealed ahead of season opener". FIA Formula E. 10 September 2019. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
21. Smith, Sam (10 October 2019). "Ma to Make Formula E Return with NIO 333". e-racing365. Archived from the original on 8 December 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
22. Smith, Sam (15 October 2019). "New NIO 333 Car Breaks Cover". e-racing365. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
23. "NIO sign Ex-Andretti, Jaguar driver Blomqvist". Formula E Zone. 23 November 2020. Archived from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
24. "Adam Carroll Joins NIO 333 FE Team as Reserve Driver for 2021". NIO 333 FE Team. 18 February 2021. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
25. "How an all-or-nothing gamble led to a Formula E giant-killing". The Race. 12 April 2022. Archived from the original on 13 April 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
26. Smith, Sam. "Nio name disappears from Formula E for 2024". The Race. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
27. "Last-minute twist over final vacant Formula E seat". The Race. 22 October 2024. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
28. "Kiro Race Co joins forces with CUPRA in Formula E". Formula E. 3 December 2024. Retrieved 3 December 2024.

External links

• Official website