CUPRA KIRO gets ready for inaugural Jeddah E-Prix
CUPRA KIRO heads to Saudi Arabia to contest the FIA Formula E World Championship's newest race – the 2025 Jeddah E-Prix
With a new race comes new opportunities, and CUPRA KIRO is ready to take on the challenge of the inaugural Jeddah E-Prix as the FIA Formula E World Championship heads to Saudi Arabia for the third and fourth rounds of the 2024/25 season.
Marking the first double-header event of 2025 and the first race weekend featuring PIT BOOST, the Jeddah E-Prix presents not one, but two opportunities for teams to score points, and by racing on a new circuit situated on the Red Sea’s shoreline, this weekend is sure to pack a punch.
Discover The Circuit
Since hosting its first World Championship-level race in 2021, the Jeddah Corniche Circuit has earned a fearsome reputation as a fast and furious arena of speed, and despite its youth, has become one of the most loved street circuits in modern motorsport.
The specially designed layout of the circuit’s Formula E configuration measures 3.001-kilometres and features 19 corners. Its mixture of long straights, heavy braking zones, high-speed turns and the addition of four new chicanes means that action will never be in short supply.
Alongside contending with the challenging nature of Jeddah – which demands confidence at every stage – drivers will also need to battle evolving track conditions, with each race being held at night while both practice and Qualifying take place during the day.
To maximise these conditions, while successfully advancing performance as the double-header progresses, taking a versatile and adaptable approach to the weekend will be key and with an additional on-track window with FP0’s rookie test, CUPRA KIRO will make the most of its running.
Last Time Out
After claiming a top 10 finish on debut at the São Paulo E-Prix, CUPRA KIRO resumed its debut Formula E season at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City in January and showed promise throughout the weekend.
After making improvements from Friday to Saturday, rain overnight created a set of challenging conditions on race day, but by maximising damp running for the first time in FP2, CUPRA KIRO was able to gather critical data on Hankook’s new all-weather tyres for Season 11.
Our drivers, Dan Ticktum and David Beckmann, started the race from 15th and 12th, but when Dan picked up a puncture on lap one, David was left as our primary challenger and the rookie performed well as a consistent top 10 runner.
Unfortunately, a collision with Zane Maloney forced David to retire, and despite losing almost one lap at the start of the race, Dan was able to stage a late resurgence to finish 19th.
Hear From CUPRA KIRO
Alex Hui, Team Principal, CUPRA KIRO
“Jeddah is the first of two new circuits on the Formula E calendar this season, and we’re excited to get back out on track and start racing again. Since Mexico City, we’ve taken the time to really break down the data we’ve gathered over the first two races, and we’re coming to Jeddah with a better understanding of the Gen3 EVO and our broader technical package which I’m confident will put us in a much stronger position for the rest of the season. With Jeddah being a track that Formula E has never raced at, every team is on level footing with equal opportunities for the weekend. It will be important to optimise our running throughout practice to execute Qualifying and the race well, and with two races taking place over the weekend, we’ll be able to use our insights from Friday to improve our performance for Saturday. As always, points are the target, and I can’t wait to see what we can achieve.”
Russell O’Hagan, Chief Operating Officer, CUPRA KIRO
“The Jeddah E-Prix is shaping up to be one of the most interesting race weekends of the 2024/25 season. Jeddah is a new circuit for Formula E, we have our first rookie test session of the year on Thursday, the weekend is our first double-header of the season, and on Friday, we’ll also have our first race day experience of PIT BOOST. The extra track time at the start of the week will be critical in our data collection, but the addition of PIT BOOST will bring an additional strategic layer to Race One. As with anything in motorsport, new technology and new sporting formats bring untapped opportunities, and if we can understand PIT BOOST early and adapt our strategy appropriately, I’m confident that we could be in for a good result.”
Dan Ticktum, Driver, CUPRA KIRO
“I’m looking forward to the next race. For me personally, I wish we didn’t have to wait so long but the break has given us some time to go through some data and build upon what we’ve learned from the first two races. So far, we haven’t quite got the package in the right window yet so hopefully in Saudi, after all the work we’ve done, we can hit the ground running. Jeddah is a track I’ve been to before, and it was one of my favourite tracks in Formula 2. The layout for this weekend is slightly different, but I think it’s going to be fun to drive and looking forward to get back in the car and seeing some of the progress we’ve made.”
David Beckmann, Driver, CUPRA KIRO
“I’m really looking forward to Jeddah which is the only night race on the Season 11 schedule. The circuit is very fast, and the track is also new for Formula E, which means that every team and most drivers will have a similar level of knowledge which, as a rookie, should play to my advantage. With a new track comes new challenges but as a double header, we have two races and two opportunities to score the points we were so close to securing in São Paulo and Mexico City. During the season so far, we’ve shown promise as a team, and I believe we can realise our potential this weekend in Saudi Arabia.”
Follow The Action
Track action for the inaugural Jeddah E-Prix will get underway on Thursday 13 January with FP0 and Free Practice 1. Qualifying and race action will take place on 14-15 January, with two races taking place over the course of the weekend.
To find out where to watch the Jeddah E-Prix in your home country, click here.