The Peninsula Hong Kong ushers in its 90th anniversary year with its inaugural sponsorship of TECHEETAH Formula-E team in its second outing during the racing season opener in Hong Kong, from 2-3 December, 2017
The Peninsula Hong Kong announced today its sponsorship of China’s TECHEETAH Formula-E racing team, which is competing for the second time at the 2017 Hong Kong E-Prix, which hosts the season opener over two days from 2-3 December on the Central Harbourfront. The 2017/2018 FIA Formula E season will be TECHEETAH Formula-E’s second season in the championship.
Motor enthusiasts from Hong Kong and abroad will convene around the FIA Formula-E Championship to celebrate the world’s first fully-electric international single-seater category in motorsport, played out in the electric street racing series that will take over the Central Harbourfront.
Gaining seven podium finishes and one race win to finish 5th in the team rankings in its debut season was deemed an exceptional feat and TECHEETAH Formula-E team aims to repeat its success in the coming season. French driver Jean-Éric Vergne will do his second season with the team, and will this year be joined by German sports car ace, André Lotterer.
Clearly visible to spectators at the electrifying Hong Kong harbourfront race as well as to TV viewers worldwide, The Peninsula Hong Kong insignia will be displayed on Team TECHEETAH’s four racing cars. TECHEETAH Formula-E Team is owned by leading Chinese sports development and management company, SECA, and is the only race team representing China in this season’s Formula E championship.
Launched in 2014, Formula E represents a global vision for the future of sustainable motor racing. By sponsoring the TECHEETAH Formula-E racing team, The Peninsula Hong Kong aims to promote the take-up of low emissions technologies in the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region (HKSAR). Formula E distinguishes itself as a competitive platform that tests and develops the latest technologies in the field, helping to refine the design, as well as the functionality, of electric vehicles and their components, to eventually enable car users around the world to enjoy an improved driving experience.
Making his E-Prix debut in Hong Kong is driver André Lotterer. Best known for his success in endurance racing with the Audi Sports works team, he joins TECHEETAH Formula-E with a wealth of racing experience. He has completed the Japanese Super Formula series for over a
decade, winning the title in 2011 as he was working as a test driver for Jaguar Racing’s F1 team in the same year. From 2012-2016, Lotterer competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship, driving for the Audi Sport Team with the Audi R18 and in 2017 with Porsche Motorsports in the highly regarded LMP1 class. During his time with Audi, Lotterer’s recorded three victories in the prestigious 24-hour Le Mans race and the driver’s title of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Jean-Éric Vergne became the youngest ever French driver to compete in Formula One when he joined the Scuderia Toro Rosso F1 team in 2012 following three years with the team and becoming the youngest French driver in history to earn Formula One points after finishing 8th in his second ever F1 Grand Prix. Jean-Éric is a mainstay of Formula E since the all-electric street racing series’ inception. Season three saw another step forward for Jean-Éric as he drove his TECHEETAH Formula-E car into podium position no less than five times and secured his first Formula-E win in the season finale in Montréal.
The thrilling, socially responsible E-Prix race series are set to take Hong Kong by storm on Saturday, 2 December, winding through the heart of the Central district with a total of ten turns and two hairpin bends. The circuit speeds past the IFC Tower, the Hong Kong Observatory Wheel, Star Ferry Pier and City Hall, and teams will race 43-laps on Saturday and 45-laps on Sunday along a 500-metre main straight reaching speeds of up to 200 kph.
Supporting TECHEETAH Formula-E team at the HKT Hong Kong E-Prix, The Peninsula Hong Kong will usher in its 90th anniversary year in 2018. As the city’s leading luxury hotel and one of Hong Kong’s most iconic, enduring landmarks, The Peninsula is synonymous with unrivalled comfort and impeccable East-meets-West service, with a unique identity among the world’s leading hotels. According to Ivan Yim, Managing Director for TECHEETAH Formula-E team: “The Peninsula Hong Kong offers the perfect place to unwind and recover for our team and we are looking forward not only to our stay, but to hopefully working on further partnership opportunities with this luxury hotel icon, in and around its momentous forthcoming 90th anniversary. The Hong Kong E-Prix is the season-opening race for us and it’s great to be back in this world-class city with a world-class hotel partner. Well-rested, TECHEETAH’s drivers will be geared up and ready for the races on 2nd and 3rd December.”
Delivering glamorous, luxurious travel experiences at the highest level, The Peninsula also counts two complimentary electric car-charging stations in its car park, with the TECHEETAH Formula-E tie-up underscoring the hotel’s commitment to Hong Kong, via the socially responsible E-Prix race series.
“As a group, The Peninsula Hotels is passionate about celebrating the very best in the world of motoring. As part of The Peninsula Hong Kong’s growing sustainability programme, the hotel is especially committed to an emissions-free future for the city we have called home for the past 89 years,” said Mr Joseph Chong, Vice-President and Managing Director, The Peninsula Hong Kong and The Peninsula Shanghai. “Building on our successful sponsorship of the TECHEETAH Formula-E team during the Hong Kong E-Prix last year, we look forward to being part of the team again and hope that this is the start of a mutually beneficial partnership moving forward. We are delighted to expand our growing partnership with TECHEETAH for the future.”
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About Team TECHEETAH
TECHEETAH Formula-E team is an international racing team competing in the all-electric street racing series, FIA Formula E. Backed by Chinese investment group China Media Capital (CMC) and Global Sports marketing and events specialists SECA, the team operates out of Oxford in the UK. The team is headed by President Edmund Chu, Managing Director Ivan Yim, Team Principal Mark Preston, Commercial Chief Executive Keith Smout and Racing Director Léo Thomas.
For further information, please contact: Sara Hernmarck Huijnen on media@techeetahfe.com
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For further information, please contact:
Ms Olivia Toth
Director of Communications
The Peninsula Hong Kong
Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Telephone : +852 2696 6605
Fax : +852 2696 6633
Email : oliviatoth@peninsula.com
Website : www.peninsula.com