until Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League
Tom Blomqvist will replace James Calado at Jaguar for the final two races of the 2019/20 Formula E season at Tempelhof this week.
Calado will travel to Belgium to join his World Endurance Championship team, AF Corse, for the first free practice session on Thursday in the build-up to Saturday’s WEC 6 Hours of Spa.
Jaguar took the decision to replace Calado for both races in order to try to maximise its points scoring potential with a single driver on the newly designed third iteration of Tempelhof track being used this week.
It had been in a long period of negotiation with AF Corse regarding the possibility of keeping Calado for the final two races.
Jaguar has slipped from third to seventh in the teams’ standings after a difficult first four races in Berlin during which Calado failed to score and erstwhile drivers’ title contender Mitch Evans collected just nine points.
The team has been granted approval from the stewards to replace Calado despite a rule existing that forbids the changing of drivers in the final three races of the season.
There are three ways in which teams are allowed to get a driver change done in the final three rounds. One is force majeure, which this appears not to be as it has been known about for seven weeks, one is for the driver to have had their e-licence suspended and the other would be a breach of contract.
The precise criteria for Calado being officially replaced for the final two races remains unclear.
“I am excited to get behind the wheel of the Jaguar I-TYPE 4 for the last couple of races in Berlin,” said Blomqvist, who has spent the last four races working at Jaguar’s simulator in Grove, UK.
“To be driving for a brand like Jaguar is a big honour for me and I would like to thank everyone at the team for this great opportunity.
“It will be a new track layout for the last two races and hopefully we will have learned a lot as a team.
“I am looking forward to making my return to Formula E and want to deliver my very best for Mitch and the team.”
The move is set to call time on Calado’s brief Formula E career after he joined Jaguar last September.
He contributed 10 points to Jaguar’s current teams’ tally of 75 but has not claimed a point in the last six races.
Calado’s seat next season will be taken by Sam Bird, who was confirmed as leaving Envision Virgin Racing to join Evans last month.
Jaguar Racing team director James Barclay thanked Calado for his service this season, saying: “I would like to thank James for everything he has done for the team this year under incredibly difficult circumstances.
“He is the such a professional driver and I would like to wish him well in Spa this week in his fight for the World Endurance Championship.”
Former DTM racer Blomqvist was announced as Jaguar’s new FE reserve ahead of the Berlin races.
He has previous Formula E experience from a partial campaign for the Andretti team two years ago, since when he has focused on sportscar racing with BMW.
