• For every Fanboost vote received by team drivers Pascal Wehrlein and Jerome D’Ambrosio in Season 6, Mahindra Racing will plant a tree; meaning each vote will go towards helping our planet
• Mahindra Racing continues to set the benchmark in sustainability and remains the only Formula E team to receive FIA Sustainability Accreditation two star rating
• Unique sand art video released to launch the initiative created by Britain’s Got Talent: The Champions finalist Kseniya Simonova

MUMBAI, 19 NOVEMBER 2019 (GPN) – Mahindra Racing is thrilled to announce a pioneering new Fanboost initiative ahead of the 2019/20 ABB FIA Formula E Championship’s season opener in Saudi Arabia this weekend. For Season 6, every vote received by the team’s drivers Pascal Wehrlein and Jerome D’Ambrosio will convert into a tree planted; meaning fans can have a direct positive impact on the environment by voting for free when Fanboost for this weekend’s Diryah E-Prix opens today at 16:30 UTC.

The tree planting initiative is another measure that Mahindra Racing is taking as it continually strives to make positive changes for the environment. Mahindra Racing was the first, and remains the only, Formula E team to achieve FIA Sustainability Accreditation. The squad first successfully attained its two star rating (previously called “Progress Towards Excellence”) in November 2016 and, following a periodic audit in February this year, Mahindra Racing maintained its status in the framework, with the aim of being carbon neutral by 2020.

The team is committed to the FIA environmental certification programme by minimising its environmental impact and working towards achieving carbon neutrality. It also takes learnings from advanced technologies in its race car to apply it to its road cars within its Race to Road initiative, developing and promoting more sustainable transportation solutions.  

To launch the initiative, Britain’s Got Talent: The Champions finalist and Ukraine’s Got Talent winner Kseniya Simonova has created a special sand art video showing how fans can make a difference to the environment through tree planting. Simonova has most recently been seen on screen on Britain’s Got Talent: The Champions, where Amanda Holden gave her the golden buzzer in the audition rounds to see her progress straight to the final and in America’s Got Talent: Champions, where she also reached the final. 

Finally, the tradition of asking fans to name its car for the upcoming season continued ahead of the start of the 2019/20 campaign. Following a public vote across the Mahindra Racing social media channels to #NameTheM6Electro, Jerome D’Ambrosio’s #64 car will be known as The Godfather. His teammate Pascal Wehrlein will pilot the #94 car, Electro McQueen.

DILBAGH GILL, CEO & TEAM PRINCIPAL, MAHINDRA RACING: “It’s important that Mahindra Racing continues to show innovation in its approach to raising environmental awareness and trying to help the world we all live in. We’re proud to be the only Formula E team to achieve FIA Sustainability Accreditation and to continue to set the standard. Turning our attentions to on track, we are incredibly excited and driven to get Season 6 underway. We’ve been working incredibly hard in the off season to ensure we are competitive out of the box. Diriyah is a wonderful track that we enjoyed last year, and we celebrated there with a podium. We’re looking to step back on the rostrum once again when we get the competition underway.”

JEROME D’AMBROSIO: “The rule changes for season six are positive and I think the energy reduction is definitely going to have a big impact. The extra point for the driver topping the qualifying stage is also a positive change. We worked hard in pre-season testing in Valencia and we had another test before heading to Riyadh, which was important as we were able to fine tune areas ahead of the first race. I am aiming for the podium in Saudi Arabia again and we’re preparing ourselves as much as we can, so let’s see where that brings us.”

PASCAL WEHRLEIN: “We had the official pre-season testing in Valencia and we were able to apply learnings from there to our final test before the first race. I’m looking forward to driving the track in Diriyah for the first time and I think we’re well prepared. It looks like a nice circuit, especially the first two sectors which are fast and have a good flow of corners. The new rule changes to season six could make a difference to the championship. It has always been pretty close in this series and I think the extra point for the driver topping qualifying stage before superpole is good. Attack Mode changes will make it easier to overtake on the track, but it will definitely come down to being efficient with the reduction in energy after full course yellow and safety car periods.” ENDS