Credit: Extreme E

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has revealed that the service will broadcast the new all-electric racing competition, Extreme E, when it begins next year.

The multi-year deal is set to not only provide racing fans with more content on free-to-air television but will also continue to raise awareness for climate control throughout the 5 race series. 

Ali Russell, chief marketing officer at Extreme E, stated: “The UK has an insatiable appetite for world-class motor racing and a groundswell of backing for sustainable technologies – particularly pertinent given the government’s plans to bring forward the transition to fully-electric motoring to 2035.”

Extreme E is a new racing series using electric SUV cars in which drivers will race around a variety of courses and terrains. The plan is for the vehicles to compete around courses in which the country has been affected by climate change. 

Extreme E’s first race is scheduled for 23-24 January, 2021 in Senegal. Other locations include: Saudi Arabia, Nepal, Greenland and Brazil.

During each race, scientists affiliated to the sport will be deployed in order to launch investigations around the effects of climate change in the areas.

A number of well known racers have already announced their involvement in the competition with BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award winner Billy Monger,  2019’s W Series champion Jamie Chadwick, and multiple FIA World Rally Championship title-winner Sébastian Ogier all signed up as drivers.

Red Bull Racing Formula One’s chief technical officer Adrian Newey will also be involved in the tournament. Newey will be ‘lead visionary’ for Veloce team, one of the 12 teams announced for the series.

This will be Veloce’s first leap into racing after establishing themselves as an esports organisation, with a particular focus on the eRacing sector.

Veloce will be joined by VENTURI, HWA, ABT and QEV who have all been announced as part of the tournament.

The series will house all of the teams, scientists and equipment on the RMS St Helena ship being sailed from each location during the campaign from January to October, 2021.

The championship has also partnered with FOX Sports, FOX Sports Asia, Mediaset, Sony India, and TVNZ among other in order to broadcast the sport to a global audience. 

Insider Insight: BBC’s deal with Extreme E signifies two major points. Firstly, considering the product hasn’t even produced one race yet BBC has faith that the competition will garner a lot of attention. Also, it shows how climate change is still an important matter in the BBC’s initiatives and by using racing, the issues should be brought to a relatively new audience. 

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