Venturi Formula E has become the first team to establish a young driver programme for electric motorsport, signing GP3's Dorian Boccolacci and Arthur Leclerc, brother of Charles Leclerc, to the scheme.
Alongside Boccollacci and Leclerc, the Monegasque outfit has also signed Pierre-Louis Chovet of the French F4 championship, Louis Iglesias and Benjamin Cartery who are currently involved in karting, and eSports champions Gaetan Goarant, Kevin Laeune and Maxime Pain.
“We want to help those with talent but who haven’t always had the means to get started," said Gildo Pastor, Venturi's President.
"We have often given youth a chance in the past. For example, the Venturi Formula E team development driver, Michael Benyahia, is just 17.
"For me, it was the logical next step to continue betting on youth by creating Venturi Next Gen,” he added.
Venturi's programme will give eight of its young drivers the chance to use its Formula E simulator whilst also giving the youngsters the chance to receive physical and mental training. This will ultimately end with the opportunity to drive one of the outfit's electric single-seater machines.
While Boccolacci returns to GP3 for a second consecutive season with newcomer MP Motorsport, Leclerc is set to make his debut in French Formula 4 this weekend for the opening round of the 2018 season at the Circuit Paul Armagnac in Nogaro, France.
