New US owner: Formula E team ERT becomes Kiro Race Co. and races with Porsche powertrains

Just around a year after the Formula E team Nio 333 was renamed "Electric Racing Technologies", ERT for short, this name is already history again: from now on, the team will compete under the name Kiro Race Co. The reason for this is a change of ownership. Kiro will also be racing with Porsche powertrains from now on, as Formula E confirmed on Tuesday.

The new name Kiro means "bright light". It embodies the future vision of electric vehicles as the new norm, the team said in a social media statement. However, Kiro will no longer be launched under the Chinese or British flag, but under the US flag. The reason for this is that the investment firm "The Forest Road Company" has taken over 100 per cent of the racing team. The Los Angeles-based investor from the media and renewable energy sectors sees great potential in the electric series following the acquisition of a majority stake in Formula E by Liberty Global.

"We are very excited to enter the Formula E World Championship and begin our journey as Kiro Race Co," says Jeremy Tarica, Managing Director of Forest Road. The series is at a crucial turning point, he added. "As the world moves towards a massive transition to electric vehicles, the racing series with the fastest accelerating single-seaters has made a significant technological breakthrough. We are determined to support Kiro in becoming a leading force in the industry."

The racing team itself will apparently remain largely unchanged. That's also true for team principal Alex Hui. "The involvement of a US-based asset management group like Forest Road in Formula E is a testament to the growth of the series and the potential of our team," he explains. "Their investment allows us to look to the future with confidence and compete at the highest level. This is truly a historic moment for our team."

Team principal Hui: "Looking forward to working with Porsche"

In fact, Hui's team could suddenly be fighting for victories. Because as previously reported, Kiro will be racing with Porsche powertrains with immediate effect. "We are looking forward to working with (...) Porsche Motorsport to achieve our goals", Hui says. Whether it will be enough for the very front remains to be seen. This is because Kiro has been given the actually obsolete powertrain from the two previous seasons, which has been upgraded to common components to comply with the new Gen3 Evo regulations, while the works team and customer team Andretti compete with a newly developed powertrain. The car for Kiro is to be called "Porsche 99X Electric WCG3".

"This is a fantastic development for Formula E and for Kiro Race Co," said Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds, calling Forest Road as a sophisticated group of investors with a strong track record in the sports and entertainment industry. "This investment in the team and its ambitious new owners will help us continue to grow the championship and make it more attractive to fans and partners around the world," said the Briton.

Names, names, names

With the support of Forest Road as well as of David Kaplan and Bennett Rosenthal, the co-founders of Ares Management, Kiro Race Co. is strategically positioning itself for the long term and wants to focus on sustainable growth. Kaplan will serve as managing partner of the team, leveraging his decades of investment and operational experience. "We are confident that under Forest Road's leadership, Kiro Race Co. will continue to strengthen the series and help it remain the fastest growing motorsport series in the world," said Mike Fries, CEO of Liberty Global.

Although some things are changing, Kiro's operational headquarters will remain at Silverstone in the UK. The list of names under which the team has competed in Formula E is nevertheless growing longer: the China Racing Formula E Team became NextEV TCR Formula E Team in the course of season 1. From the third season, the team was then called NextEV Nio, before being renamed Nio Formula E Team one season later. After being sold to Lisheng Shanghai Racing in 2019, the name changed to Nio 333 FE Team before finally becoming ERT in October 2023.

additional reporting by Tobias Wirtz