The Cupra brand will continue in Formula E for the next two seasons as an official partner of the newly named Kiro Race Co team.
Part of the Volkswagen range of brands and formerly Abt's title partner in FE and Extreme E for the past two seasons, Cupra is a sporting subsidiary of Sociedad Espanola de Automoviles de Turismo (SEAT).
Abt has now linked up with the Lola-Yamaha alliance for its next FE project. Kiro - formerly ERT - takes powertrains from Cupra's VW Group stablemate Porsche.
The Race understands that Kiro's initial livery that will be raced by Dan Ticktum and David Beckmann this weekend in Sao Paulo will essentially be a one off and that a fresh look will be introduced for the Mexico City E-Prix in January onwards.
Porsche-contracted Beckmann was a late addition to the line-up as the Kiro transition and Porsche partnership came together, edging Sergio Sette Camara out of the seat.
Sette Camara will remain involved in FE, though, having agreed a deal to join Nissan as a reserve and simulator driver.
CUPRA'S BIG GOALS
The Race has discovered that Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds was one of the key figures in assisting the Cupra deal with Kiro in order to get the plans over the line.
Cupra announced in April that according to International Accounting Rules (IFRS), its operating profit rose dramatically from €33million in 2022 to a record €625m, and it had a 31% rise in annual turnover to €14.3billion.
Cupra and SEAT CEO Wayne Griffiths said at that time Cupra would be pushing into the US marketplace "by the end of the decade" and "plan to launch with the battery electric version of the Formentor and a bigger electric crossover SUV" that will be produced at VW Group factories "in the North America region, including Mexico".
The Kiro team was recently acquired by US-based company Forest Road in conjunction with asset management entity Ares Management. Both companies were introduced to Formula E last summer by its new majority stakeholder Liberty Global.
"Our partnership starts in motorsport, but it extends far beyond it - it's united by a shared belief in the desire to challenge the status quo by disrupting and leading change in our respective fields," said Jeremy Tarica, Forest Road's managing director.
Cupra's global head of racing Xavi Serra added that "by combining our technical know-how with the team, we are fully prepared to compete at the highest level" and said FE offered the brand "a competitive platform to develop the future of electric road cars".
As well as Dodds and senior Kiro executives, well-known commercial mover and shaker Jon Wilde is known to have been crucial to the deal being completed and he described it as "the perfect endorsement of our vision and commitment to building strong commercial partnerships".
"It continues to show the growing appeal of Formula E as a platform for international brands to connect with an engaged global audience," he said.
"On a personal level, I’m very excited to watch our journey unfold together over the coming seasons as we strive towards achieving our long-term targets as a sports franchise."
WHY DIDN'T ABT-PORSCHE-CUPRA DEAL HAPPEN?
Around 14 months ago there was a very different and, on the face of it, much more intuitive three-pronged plan involving Abt, Porsche and Cupra joining forces for the last two seasons of Gen3 competition. But what felt like a perfect match didn't end up happening.
The story is still masked in layers of opaque conjecture. Long negotiations between Abt, Cupra and Porsche went on for several months before the plans were terminated as 2024 dawned.
It had become clear towards the end of the 2023 campaign that Abt would not continue with its Mahindra customer package to the conclusion of the Gen3 car era, which is heading into its final two seasons with the new Evo package.
Cupra does not bring any technical input to Formula E and is essentially a sponsor marketing its range of plug-in electric vehicles, allocating only a marketing budget to its activities in the series.
It is believed that the initial discussions about a planned Abt and Porsche partnership were progressing well but according to one source who wished to remain nameless it "got more and more complicated once Cupra were fully involved".
This is likely to have been partly in light of the fact that both Porsche and Cupra are owned by the VW mothership.
Once the plans floundered, Abt started serious discussions with the returning Lola name earlier this year and by March a deal was agreed and signed. Lola Yamaha will supply Abt's powertrain for the next two seasons at least.
The Race revealed last month that Lola owner Till Bechtolsheimer had also secured the full entry licence for the grid slot from Abt as it plans for Gen4 - which it committed to long ago.
