We talk with Bobby Rahal about the new Jaguar electric racing series

Jonathan Gitlin

LOS ANGELES-Car companies like Jaguar go racing for a couple of reasons. One is to prove their engineering in as fierce a crucible as possible, something the English company did to good effect with technologies like disc brakes and monocoque chassis construction in the 1950s. The other reason may be less high-minded, but no less important-races sell cars. Call it "speed by association." That's particularly true of racing programs that use street cars as their starting point, which goes some way to explain the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy, a one-make race series using electric vehicles that will travel and race with the Formula E circus next season.

Jaguar was one of the first OEMs to take the idea of electric racing seriously, and it has had a team competing in Formula E for a while now. That's useful for developing its engineering know-how, but a Formula E race car-with its open wheels and a single seat-looks nothing like an EV you or I could buy. What better way, then, for Jaguar to let people know that its new I-Pace EV-which hits the showrooms in 2018-can handle it than by having a pack of 20 of them race each other as a support series? And since all the cars will be identical I-Paces, a Jaguar is guaranteed to win every race.

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