Spark Racing Technology (SRT) is a motorsport manufacturer specialized in the development and engineering of high-performance e-mobility cars and modules. The company was founded by Frédéric Vasseur to become the sole

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpa ...

supplier for the

FIA Formula E Championship Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is a single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The series was conceived in 2011 in Paris by FIA president Jean Todt and Spanish businessman Alejandro Agag, who ...

but is now involved in other projects as well.

History

The company was officially registered in October 2012.

Formula E

In 2010, Frédéric Vasseur's

ART Grand Prix ART Grand Prix is a French motor racing team that competes in formula single-seaters in Europe. In 2012, it competed in the GP2 Series and GP3 Series as Lotus GP to reflect sponsorship from British sports and racing car manufacturer Lotus. The ...

team built the ''Formulec EF01'' car in an effort to get a supplier deal for the newly forming all-electric series. It was later chosen as the base vehicle for the development of the new chassis. In November 2012, the Formula E promoter and organiser, Formula E Holdings, declared that Spark Racing Technology was officially mandated to design and build all 40 Spark-Renault SRT_01E single-seaters.

SRT01-e

The car was developed in collaboration with McLaren Electronic Systems, Williams Advanced Engineering,

Dallara Dallara is an Italian race car manufacturer, founded by its current President, Gian Paolo Dallara. After working for Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and De Tomaso, in 1972 in his native village of Varano de' Melegari (Parma), Italy he created "D ...

and

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufacture ...

. In the inaugural season, all teams ran this car as the series was fully spec. Starting with the 2015–16 season, teams were allowed to develop their own

powertrain A drivetrain (also frequently spelled as drive train or sometimes drive-train) is the group of components that deliver mechanical power from the prime mover to the driven components. In automotive engineering, the drivetrain is the components o ...

s and

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. ...

with the other parts remaining spec. Teams had the option to revert to

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...

's "SRT01-e" powertrain from the inaugural season, which

Team Aguri Team Aguri, formerly Amlin Aguri and officially the Team Aguri Formula E Team, was an international motor racing team founded by former Formula One and 24 Hours of Le Mans driver Aguri Suzuki (Executive Chairman) and Mark Preston (Team Principal ...

and Amlin Andretti took advantage of in the 2015–16 season. Spark updated the chassis for the 2016–17 season, introducing a more complex front wing. The chassis was in competition for four seasons ( 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17 and 2017–18) and 45

ePrix Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is a single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The series was conceived in 2011 in Paris by FIA president Jean Todt and Spanish businessman Alejandro Agag, wh ...

events.

SRT05e

The FIA put the chassis supply for the seasons 5 to 7 out to

tender Tender may refer to: Entertainment Film * ''Illegal Tender'' (2007), a film directed by Franc. Reyes * ''Tender'' (2012), a short film by Liz Tomkins * ''Tender'' (2019), a short film by Darryl Jones and Anthony Lucido * ''Tender'' (2019), a sh ...

. Spark won the new tender with a completely redesigned chassis which included the

halo Halo, halos or haloes usually refer to: * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head HALO, halo, halos or haloes may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Video games * Halo (franchise), ...

safety device. The chassis' lifespan was later extended to four seasons, with a visual update package originally planned for the car's third season (

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

), being delayed to 2021–22, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. This update package is known as Gen2EVO.

Other projects

* In 2019, Spark was confirmed as the official car provider for the new

Extreme E Extreme E is an FIA-sanctioned international off-road racing series that uses spec silhouette electric SUVs to race in remote parts of the world, such as the Saudi Arabian desert or the Arctic. All racing locations are chosen to raise awareness ...

series. The Extreme E SUV, the Spark Odyssey 21 was revealed at the 2019

Goodwood Festival of Speed The Goodwood Festival of Speed is an annual motorsports festival featuring modern and historic motor racing vehicles taking part in a hill climb and other events, held in the grounds of Goodwood House, West Sussex, England, in late June or e ...

. * Spark Racing Technology is a shareholder and technical partner of FUELL. The company, which is a partnership between Spark, Erik Buell and Vanguard Motorcycles, develops electric bikes. * The Beltoise BT01: The first vehicle of Beltoise eTechnology. A 100% electric GT, designed for competition and driving courses. The BT01 reconciles motorsport and sustainable development.

References

{{reflist Electric sports cars Formula E French racecar constructors Manufacturing companies established in 2012