ACE: new electric series that will slash the cost of junior racing

The alternative junior discipline, which plans to be run in compressed three-month championships – each one in a different continent – will offer scholarships to six drivers, while others only have to bring a budget roughly a quarter of someone competing in a typical Formula 3 season, equivalent to ‘only’ £300k.

With this broadened horizon for not only competitors and engineers but also those working mechanics, logistics and media professionals – for which the series plans to run corporate intern programmes – Gill explains where the inspiration for ACE originated, and how he saw a place for such an initiative.

“The idea started germinating a couple of years ago when I was doing university talks to motor sport engineering students,” he says. “I realised that as many as 30% of them come from non-traditional racing countries – China, India, North Africa, places like that.

“That showed me there’s this huge appetite for people in those countries to become part of motor sport.

“On a personal side, I also didn’t come from a traditional motor sport country – a much different journey to other Formula E team principles.

“I thought, ‘Why don’t we create a pathway so people can experience what I did, which was something really fun?'”

And thus the idea of ACE was born. The series, both in budgetary terms and in its racing locations, aims to be more accessible than the traditional FIA junior ladder.

Gill explains the concept behind the championship and the all-new cars, which ties in with how the series aims to keep the costs down. ACE would also generate revenue from sponsors and corporate partnerships.

Though the series aims to be on the support bill for some Formula E events, it won’t be limited to this championship.

“We aim to divide the world into four regional championships, running around six double-header race weekends within a 10-12 week period [e.g. January-March in the Middle East, June-to-August in North America],” he says.

“We’re looking to have a 20-car grid of 10 two-car teams, each running two cars.

“There will actually be two series, ‘Championship’ [with a power output of 250kW, equivalent to a Gen2 FE car] for FE reserve-level drivers and ‘Challenger’ [with a power output of 180kW] for more junior competitors. So there’ll be two races per race day, and the teams in both classes will share cars, with power adjusted between races, further reducing our carbon footprint.

“For the first season, while we only have one set of equipment, in every other quarter the cars will come back to our base to be refurbished, before heading out three months later for the next regional championship.

“The same chassis will be shared between teams from different regions [unless they choose to race in all continents], but then regional championships will in 2025 run back-to-back when we have two sets of cars. One idea we exploring is having one North and one South American championship, with the two sharing the same equipment.”

As Gill states, “cost of equipment is the biggest barrier to motor sport,” so cars will be owned by the series and leased to teams, with the championship running on the support card of some FE’s street races, but also on permanent tracks such as Brands Hatch and Valencia – “we want to control our own destiny,” he adds.

Eight teams, from FE, WEC, F2 and F3, have already signed a letter of intent to join the series, but where would success in ACE lead to? Gill says the formation of its race calendar will be crucial in future opportunities for Ace’s high achievers.

Though Gill wouldn’t reveal which series he’s talking to in creating a further pathway, his comments suggests a tie-up with IndyCar in the US and DTM in Europe.

The association with Formula E would also offer a natural progression for successful drivers.

“That’s the reason we’re in talks with our initial two promoters for Europe and America,” he says. “Both series associated with them have ladders which can take you up further than where we are.

“The promoter in Europe already does another large motorsport series there, and in American we’re talking to maybe the ‘gold’ name in the US, because they do a lot of other single-seater racing, but are looking to take us on as  they don’t have an electric race.”

Discussions are also in place with the FIA to award superlicence points, and with a mentoring group set-up for drivers which includes racing veteran Nick Heidfeld and a yet-to-be-revealed F1 world champion, the series – if it comes off – could be a new hotbed for motor sport talent.

The series is set to put out a ‘talent call’ for entrants this month, but does Gill really think ACE could attract drivers from the traditional FIA junior ladder? The series boss concedes that those with bigger budgets might still crowd out those with more talent but less cash.

“I think that’s something that we have to address quite carefully, because we’re still in a combustion racing world,” he says.

“I think for us we have to demonstrate that we are giving a very solid good product, the budget is going to be one of the most, I would say, competitive in the world.

“For much less than on the FIA ladder, you can work with leading F2 and F3 teams – or even do both us and those series if you have the budget, or just one of our regions etc.

“We are not underestimating that challenge of attracting drivers because, at the end of the day, they bring the money.”