The concept race car will make its inaugural appearance at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in the American Le Mans Monterey race weekend May 9 to 11.

The open-top DeltaWing premiered in 2012 at two races – the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in October, where it finished in fifth place overall.

The race car appears this year wearing new colors.

This year, the DeltaWing has made some improvements that the race team believes will allow it to be a leading contender in the series top class, P1. The car now features an Élan 1.9-liter, 4-cylinder turbo engine, new tire partner, Bridgestone, and is piloted by drivers Andy Meyrick (Cheshire, England) and Olivier Pla (Toulouse, France).

“When you consider the performance of this car, it is the performance of a hybrid, but it doesn’t need batteries and an electric motor,” said Don Panoz, managing partner, DeltaWing Racing Cars and the founder of the ALMS. “It’s all based on aerodynamics. It’s certainly very green; it’s half the weight, half the fuel, half the tire wear, half the horsepower yet the same performance.”

The main race of the weekend, in which the DeltaWing will compete, is scheduled for Saturday, May 11 at 3:30 p.m.. The race will last four hours and will take drivers from daylight into dusk.

“It will be a real treat for fans to see this radically-designed vehicle attack such a technical track,” said Gill Campbell, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca CEO/general manager. “I think The Corkscrew turn will prove to be a very interesting test for the DeltaWing.”

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Team China Racing officially announced its intention on participating yesterday and was officially proposed to the FIA as the second team.

Intended to be composed of 10 teams, the zero-emissions championship is planned to launch next year.

The announcement was made during a gathering at the Place de la Concorde, France, in which Alejandro Agag, the CEO of promoter Formula E Holdings, and Yu Liu, the Chairman of Team China Racing, met with FIA President Jean Todt. Also present were Steven Lu, CEO of Team China Racing, and Liang JianSheng, First Secretary of the Chinese Embassy.

“We are very excited that the FIA is launching an electric car racing series and we are proud to be one of the first Formula E teams,” said Liu. “I believe Formula E is a perfect platform for China Racing and our key partners to get involved in the future of motor sport. Our presence in the Championship will encourage millions of Chinese fans to follow the series.”

The zero-emissions championship will feature electric-powered cars racing on city street circuits.

Rome, Italy will be the first city to host a Formula E race.

Yesterday’s announcement follows the launch last month of the FIA Formula E Team Drayson.

Team China Racing said it will initially use the Formula E customer car currently being developed by Spark Racing Technology (SRT), McLaren and Dallara, but aims to build its own Chinese electric formula cars within three years, supported by Chinese EV manufacturers.

Liu added: “Our experience in racing event management will contribute to a successful Formula E city race in China showcasing electric formula cars with a futuristic sound and zero-emissions. We also believe this is a good platform for Chinese and global EV companies to do our part to help create a sustainable planet.”

Team China Racing is not new to racing; it has previously competed in championships including A1GP, Superleague Formula and FIA GT1.

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