Sarrazin signed to partner Chadwick at Veloce XE team
Sportscar veteran Stephane Sarrazin has been signed by the Veloce Racing team for the inaugural Extreme E season to partner W Series champion Jamie Chadwick.
The French ace, 45, won two Le Mans Series titles in 2007 and 2010 and has scored six podium finishes in the Le Mans 24 Hours - most recently for Toyota in 2016.
Sarrazin should be well suited to the electric SUV off-road racing series, having raced in Formula E over five seasons in addition to making myriad World Rally Championship appearances.
He claimed second place in the 2016 Long Beach E-Prix for the Venturi FE squad before switching to Techeetah for the latter half of the 2016-17 term.
There he added a further two podiums while returning to the WRC fold, having contested three part-seasons aboard the Subaru Impreza during the early 2000s, headlined by a brace of fourth place finishes on the 2004 Spanish and 2005 French rallies.
Sarrazin, who tested the spec ODYSSEY 21 car at Motorland Aragon last month, said: “I am delighted to have agreed terms with Veloce Racing to contest the first season of Extreme E.
“This is a hugely appealing new series that has already attracted a lot of international attention.
“As a driver, the concept is tremendously exciting and motivating - both on a competitive and personal level - and the challenge will be like no other.”
“I’ve driven a lot of different types of car during my career, but the ODYSSEY 21 really is something special and it’s going to generate some incredible action.
“When we went testing together, it did not take me long to ‘click’ with the Veloce Racing guys - like me, they arrive in Extreme E with a lot of experience from different disciplines in the sport, and that can only be to our advantage over the forthcoming campaign.”
With Sarrazin completing the Veloce Racing line-up, only reigning FE teams’ champion Techeetah has yet to reveal its XE driver pairing ahead of the delayed first round in Saudi Arabia across 3-4 April.
Veloce Racing also announced that South African national cross-country champion Lance Woolridge has been signed as the team’s reserve and development driver.
Team manager Ian Davies added: “Both [Sarrazin and Woolridge] tested with us at Motorland Aragon last month, and to be honest, they gave us a real headache in terms of who to choose.
“Since we didn’t want to lose either, in the end, we decided to sign them both.
“Both Stephane and Lance worked extremely well with Jamie and Veloce’s engineering team at the test, and their different skillsets and experience complemented each other perfectly.
“Both guys were quick out-of-the-box in Spain, and we believe both will bring a great deal to Veloce Racing as we aim to hit the ground running in Saudi Arabia.
“We are confident that with Jamie and Stephane driving and Lance working hard behind-the-scenes, we have a very strong team indeed.”
Related video
Extreme E delays start of inaugural season
Button joins Extreme E grid driving for own team
Why McLaren has taken its unprecedented off-road left turn
McLaren will be in distinctly unfamiliar territory this weekend as it makes its Extreme E debut. But this rugged left turn serves as a means to an end to inspire a greater good
How XE's Arctic adventure gave a chilly reminder of the fixes to find
Extreme E’s third round provided the very definition of extreme conditions in the Arctic Circle, and despite settling on a successful format and Andretti United taking a maiden win, there remains plenty of work to do with the spec cars that froze in action
Why McLaren’s surprise electric path can benefit everyone involved
McLaren's announcement that it will enter the Extreme E series for electric SUVs next year came as something of a surprise. But it brings benefits that other championships it could seek to enter cannot, while providing a timely boost to a start-up that has had to cancel two of its South American rounds.
Why Extreme E's Senegal round hints at the series' true potential
Extreme E's second round on the sands of Senegal refined some the more clunky aspects of the series' debut event in Saudi Arabia. Even though its star-studded finale between Lewis Hamilton's X44 team and Rosberg X Racing proved anticlimactic, the pieces are in place for the series to only get better
How Extreme E exceeded expectations to pass its first major test
The racing may have lacked the explosive conclusion to Formula E's first race in 2014 and was not without its hiccups. But Extreme E's leap into the unknown appears to have paid off, delivering a spectacle quite unlike anything else
Extreme E: The team-by-team guide
The world’s newest motorsport discipline is set to go racing for the first time this weekend. Extreme E’s innovations and plans have raised some eyebrows, but it also provides an exciting list of competitors and teams for the inaugural campaign
How Extreme E’s charging solution could transform motorsport
The new off-road SUV series aims to go boldly into the unknown on several fronts, but perhaps its most significant measure will involve the energy source powering its fleet of cars
How XE's star power puts Formula E under pressure
With the addition of Jenson Button's own team to join the involvement of fellow Formula 1 champions Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg in Extreme E's ranks, the new electric SUV series is brimming with star power to enable it to deliver on its promise