Team: NEXTEV TCR
Drivers Nelson Piquet Jr & Oliver Turvey
Team Principal Steven Lu / Yu Liu
2014/15 Championship: 4th
You can trace the what was formerly known as China Racing back to the A1 GP Series, the championship which was billed as the ‘World Cup of Motorsport’. The series died after a couple of seasons, but the team continued both in the Superleague and FIA GT1 series.
With Formula E being a whole new concept, the team were one of the first to sign up quickly seeing the potential in series. Operated by Campos Racing, a well known and respected organisation within motorsport the team has been one of the most successful in the first season.
Starting the season as China Racing in Beijing with an all red livery, they quickly set up a relationship with car manufacturer NEXTEV. We saw a new colour scheme to grey and yellow, along with a change of name, which has evolved again in 2015/16 to NEXTEV TCR.
With their star driver Nelson Piquet Jr, they went on to win the drivers championship but fell short of gaining the team championship after fielding a wide number of drivers. The season started with Chinese driver Ho-Pin Tung occupying the second seat but didn’t score any points.
Garcia took the seat for the third round in Punta del Este, again he didn’t score but he made a return at the end of the season. Charles Pic was the third driver for the team, taking part in four ePrix, and at least managed an eighth place in Monaco.
Pic was deemed to be ‘too slow’ and was deputised by Garcia in Moscow, before McLaren test driver Oliver Turvey took over the car in London. It was a successful weekend for the Brit, which has ultimately netted him a drive for season two.
Driver Name Nelson Piquet Jr
Nationality Brazilian
Date of Birth 27/05/1985
Formula E Races 11
Formula E Wins 2
2014/15 Championship Champion – 144 points
Nelson Piquet Jr is certainly a driver of his time, following a similar path to Formula One. It was, however, to be his downfall in the end which caused a drastic change career on the road to Formula E.
Like many other drivers, Piquet started in Formula 3. Firstly in South America where he won the championship in his second season, before progressing to the world renowned British F3 series, which once again he won in his second season in 2004.
He was one of the first to progress to the newly named and rebranded GP2 Series alongside some familiar names in 2005. Nico Rosberg also took part in the first season, along with Scott Speed, Heikki Kovalainen and Adam Carroll. Rosberg went on to win the series that year, with Piquet finishing in 8th.
A year later and still in GP2 we saw Piquet up against some other big names, most notably Lewis Hamilton who won the championship at his first attempt. Piquet Jr would finish second and that would give him his break into Formula One, gaining a testing seat at Renault for the 2007 season.
With a year out of racing, he made a step up to the Renault seat in 2008, alongside Fernando Alonso. He was a good number two driver, literally, and scored a best of second at the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim. It was the Singapore Grand Prix though for which he would be most well known, and the infamous ‘Crashgate’ scandal, where he was instructed to crash in order for Fernando Alonso to gain an advantage and win the race.
His performances then fell off the scale and was ultimately replaced by ‘young’ Romain Grosjean, favoured by Renault. Moving to America he had moderate success in various forms of Nascar including Trucks and the Nationwide Series up until last year.
Getting back into single-seaters for the first time in a while, Piquet Jr was instantly quick and consistent, only failing to finish in one race. That led him to claim the championship at the final race in London, with what was a closely fought title. He retains his seat for a second season, with the aim of retaining the title.
Driver Name Oliver Turvey
Nationality British
Date of Birth 01/04/1987
Formula E Races 2
Formula E Wins 0
2014/15 Championship 22nd – 4 points
Oliver Turvey is one of those ‘nearly’ drivers, who showed much promise in their early career en route to Formula One, but ultimately not quite making it.
It wasn’t like he didn’t have the backing, he had the full support of the Racing Steps Foundation and was given the title of McLaren Autosport Young Driver of the Year in 2006.
The progress through the lower formula was interesting, starting in the Formula BMW series, similar to the ever popular Formula Ford and Formula Renault championships. It was tough, with budgetary problems meaning he couldn’t complete the full season, although the bright light was winning the McLaren award, which would ultimately open up his career.
Stepping up to Formula 3 he was paired against young Spaniard Jaime Alguersuari, with whom he also graduated to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series in 2009 while Alguersuari would make the jump to Formula 1 thanks to his Red Bull backing. He would find himself in Formula E as well, but has been ruled out of competing on health grounds.
Moving to the rival series, GP2, he took part in the then popular Asian Winter Series, before a full season in 2010. When his Racing Steps backing finished at the end of the season, he couldn’t find enough budget to continue, only completing a few races in 2011.
Having kept his links with McLaren, he joined as co-test driver with Gary Paffett in 2012. As part of their stable, he was given the chance to drive the McLaren GT car, as well as driving in Le Mans. He won in his class in 2014, driving for Jota Motorsport alongside fellow Brits Simon Dolan and Harry Tincknell.
Turvey came into the Formula E family at the final race weekend in London and was successful even having little time in the car. With the team having a number of second drivers through the season, most struggled to get points alongside eventual season champion Nelson Piquet Jr in the other car. However, Turvey bucked that trend for two 9th place finishes and the launchpad for a permanent deal for season two.
