WHAT…..are the Objectives?
“We’ve got two objectives, the first one is how we make Dan into a championship contender,” CUPRA Kiro team principal Russell O’Hagan tells Formula E Notebook.
That’s going bold but the team believes in one of its key assets completely and isn’t afraid to show it.
“I don’t necessarily mean winning the championship, but I mean like a top five or six driver,” contextualises O’Hagan.
“I think we have the team to do that, and Dan has the skill to do that. But then it’s looking at how you go about racing, even mathematically. What’s the right way to amass the type of points that you need for that type of finish.
“I think by default it will bring those glory moments of wins and podiums. But it’s also just being smart, not knowing the races where you might score big, the races where you might struggle, and just being really consistent.”
That’s the primary aim then. But what of new signing Pepe Marti who seemed to settle in to the team well at the Valencia test last month.
“The second thing with Pepe is like, how do we shortcut that difficult process of being a rookie?” says O’Hagan.
“How do we protect him from the ups and downs? How do we teach him all the things that experienced guys have got. He’s going to have to beat drivers with three years of experience in the in this car and with that unique type of racing.”
WHY…..so late?
While a lot has changed at the team, one thing seemingly hasn’t or didn’t. Its super late confirmation of who would partner its star turn Ticktum.
As late as early October Jake Hughes was in the car, testing at Abingdon airfield and what seemed like a shoo-in for the seat. Fast, dependable and experienced, he ticked a lot of boxes but seemingly not all of them.
“That was probably one of my first lessons of being a Team Principle,” says O’Hagan.
“Based on operations we always want to know (the drivers) early, and we want to be able to plan. Ultimately a week earlier would have helped a little bit. But I think actually, the process has been good.
“But I think having seen the flipside actually, the later we left it – and we left it late for various reasons – that last month of waiting, there was a lot of opportunities.
As well as Hughes, the team talked to then Prema Indycar driver Robert Shwartzman, while DTM champion Ayhancan
Güven was also nosed in to contention by Porsche.
Ultimately though, it was Pepe Marti who got the deal. Those extra boxes of recent F2 wins and of course being user friendly for CUPRA as a Spanish driver didn’t hurt either.
“I think what we’re seeing now is, as a team, we’re mutually more attractive to drivers on the grid,” reckons O’Hagan.
“And maybe because of Gen4 we’re seeing those F2 type drivers, Junior drivers, looking to FE as a potential career path.
“I think a few of them have also seen that holding pattern into F1 can get you stuck on the fringes, and maybe people are now committing to Formula E or to FIA WEC slightly earlier in their careers has been really interesting.
WHEN…..will it pay off?
‘While others fear change, we run towards it.’
That’s a natty strapline from CUPRA Kiro’s Forest Road’s corporate website and a mantra which ties in well to its Formula E investment.
Now in to its second year of ownership the investment company is taking initial stock of its deal and trying to understand, quite naturally, how it can make the most of it in all areas.
On track the company saw dramatic results with a podium, a pole and a win. That haul, compared to the seasons that preceded its ownership feels like a turnaround all of its own, and of course it is.
But stand still in motorsport and you’ll inadvertently flick the gearbox in to reverse. Forest Road knows that and so does the team itself. That’s why its recruited significantly in the off season and evolved considerably since its take-over by Forest Road just over a year ago.
Forest Road will be looking at bigger pictures too. Those of where Formula E is going, what Gen4 will deliver and how it can beef up the value and the returns of its new asset.
“They’re experienced in sports franchises and they’re also very experienced in investments and in particular how a commercial entity is graded on what it’s doing now, or what the road map is for the future and what the potential is,” says O’Hagan.
“They’re able to give us tick boxes of this is what we need to be seeing and developing.
“Then it’s kind of up to myself and John (Wilde) heading up the commercial team, to figure out how we get to those points and make sure that we’re delivering as a team and as a business.”
The structure in the team is firming up now. The hiring of former HWA, Mercedes EQ and McLaren sporting and team manager Gary Paffett feels like a key move. Quiet authority and a racing understanding from several spheres will be a major asset for the team as it matures and crystalises properly.
