ABT-Lola has signed-up former Formula 1 designer Peter McCool as its technical director as the team prepares for Season 11 of the FIA Formula E World Championship.
McCool has a wealth of experience in both F1 and FE, including McLaren and Super Aguri, where he worked with Lola’s Director of Motorsport, Mark Preston.
It is believed that a small reshuffle of the Lola backroom team will accommodate McCool’s arrival, replacing Mark Tatham who will be retained as a consultant.
McCool’s services became available only just recently, having previously worked for Alpine Labs, the technology division of its F1 team.
This organisation has now been shut down following the arrival of Flavio Briatore as an executive adviser, and Lola were quick to snap-up McCool, who had previously worked for the company to head-up its proposed project for a Formula 1 entry in 2010.
The company went bankrupt for a second time soon afterwards, and has been relaunched under the stewardship of British businessman, Till Bechtolscheimer.
“Formula E is a championship I really like and have enjoyed, so when you add those two together, and with all the plans that Till has got, it’s just very appealing from a technical perspective,” McCool told The Race.
It is also believed that a second reason that enticed McCool is the plan for Lola to enter the Le Mans 24 Hours at some point in the future.
The famed British manufacturing giants, in collaboration with Yamaha, have already begun its Formula E testing programme, having run out its GEN3 Evo prototype model at Turweston Airfield as well as clocking-up the miles at the Calafat circuit in Spain.
This news comes as the ABT-Lola team are preparing to make a final decision on who will drive their second car in Season 11, with FE veteran and current ABT driver Lucas di Grassi retained.
Motorsport Week understands that Dan Ticktum has been one driver who has held talks with the team. Ticktum’s future in Formula E is currently up in the air, with the Englishman intimating that he has yet to be offered a new contract by his current employers ERT on his Twitch stream recently.
However, it is believed that ABT would rather opt for a rookie driver to partner di Grassi, with Kelvin van der Linde a likely candidate.
The South African has a longstanding relationship with ABT, currently leading the DTM championship for its Red Bull-backed team, and also has previous Formula E experience with the German outfit.
He filled-in for Robin Frijns for the team, then ABT-Cupra, for three rounds in Season 9 and subsequently did so again in Season 10, deputising for Nico Müller at the Berlin E-Prix weekend when the Swiss was competing in the World Endurance Championship.
Motorsport Week also understands that an unnamed rookie, with no prior experience in FE, is also being touted
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