Former Formula 1 driver Kamui Kobayashi will race in the Hong Kong ePrix in two weeks with Andretti Autosport, the team has recently announced.
The Japanese star will join Antonio Felix da Costa for just the first race weekend of the Formula E season. Tom Blomqvist will still compete for the team during the rest of the 2017/18 FE season.
Kobayashi is excited to be racing for the first time in FE, but knows he will be on the back foot compared to the rest of the grid.
“I will be going to the race weekend without testing, which is not an easy thing to be honest,” he said.
“But the team has been giving me all the support, so no worrying at all, and I am really looking forward to having good races there.”
Kobayashi has previously raced in F1 with Toyota, Sauber and Caterham. More recently though he has competed in the World Endurance Championship and Super Formula.
After the news broke, FE CEO Alejandro Agag told e-racing365 that he’s pushing to keep Kobayashi in the series.
“It is great news because I have known Kamui for many, many years,” Agag said.
“For the moment the deal is just for Hong Kong but I would really like everyone to push for him to stay for the whole season as he is a great driver.
“It is also really, really important that we have a Japanese driver in the championship.”
Season four kicks off with the Hong Kong ePrix on Dec 2 and 3, which will be a double-header event.
