Japanese driver Aoki joins Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY Series with Team Yokohoma Challenge

 Takuma Aoki 

• Takuma Aoki will race for Team Yokohama Challenge, the new Japanese-based eTROPHY team 
• Aoki a former motorcycle racer who was involved in accident in 1998 resulting in paralysis from the waist down, will drive a specially adapted Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY race car
• Japanese racer will create history as the first disabled person to compete in an international electric race
• Jaguar Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations (SVO), Italian-based GuidoSimplex and M-Sport have modified the eTROPHY car with specially designed hand controls
• Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY, the world’s first all-electric touring car race series, returns for round three in Mexico City on 15 Feb.

Former World Superbike and Grand Prix motorcycle road racer Takuma Aoki will join Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY racing for Team Yokohama Challenge. 

The Japanese racer will create history as the first disabled person to compete in an international electric race series from round three in Mexico City on 15 February. 

Aoki became paralysed from the waist down after an accident in 1998, a year after he finished fifth overall with Honda in the 500 GP class. Since then, Aoki has remained involved in motorsport and has competed with success on four wheels using specially-modified vehicles in both the 2009 Dakar Rally and 2016 Asia Cross Country Rally. 

He most recently competed in the 2019 Michelin Le Mans Cup – LMP3 category and for La Filière Frédéric Sausset by SRT41 in the 2019 Road to Le Mans competition, part of the support package for the 2019 Le Mans 24 hours. 

For his first experience in electric racing, Takuma will drive a specially-modified Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY. A Guido Simplex America Lever actuator has been fitted to the steering column mount with bespoke bracketry and modifications designed and developed by Jaguar Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations (SVO), M-Sport and Takuma’s race engineering team. Modifications to the pedal box position have been made to increase the efficiency of the lever-based brake actuation and a bespoke ‘pull type’ actuation from the throttle to utilise the eTROPHY electronic throttle control.  The unique design uses cable actuation of the existing pedal for easy modification to the Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY racecar.

“I am very excited to be joining the Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY with Team Yokohama Challenge for my first competition in electric racing. Everybody is a challenger in life but I can now prove once more that life is not ending and you can still challenge your dreams even if you are paralysed. I want to thank the Jaguar Racing engineering team, GuidoSimplex and M-Sport for their hard work in modifying the car. I can’t wait to compete in Mexico City alongside some experienced racers,” said Aoki.

Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY Series Manager Mark Turner said: “We are very pleased to welcome Takuma to the Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY. Throughout his career he has shown resilience and delivered competitive racing performances, which no doubt will continue as he ventures into electric racing for the first time.” Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY Vehicle Engineering Manager Adam Jones said: “Adapting the Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY to be driven with hand controls was an exciting challenge for SVO. Working alongside Takuma’s race team and M-Sport, we have delivered a package that will enable Takuma to transition competitively into the eTROPHY race series. It has been a great collaboration and demonstrates the progressive and innovative engineering behind the Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY.” 

After a thrilling double-header opening weekend in Diriyah in November 2019, with Sérgio Jimenez and Simon Evans securing the first two wins of the season, the Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY returns for round three in Mexico City on 15 February at 14:00 local time as the official support race to the ABB FIA Formula E Championship.

After becoming the first premium manufacturer to enter the ABB FIA Formula E Championship in 2016, Jaguar created the world’s first all-electric touring car race series for a production car – the Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY.

Exclusively featuring Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY race cars, the all-electric series gives drivers of the future and established racers a chance to showcase their talent, competing on the world stage in a zero-emissions motorsport. After making history in the inaugural season, the ground-breaking series will see up to 20 identical Jaguar I-PACE battery electric race cars on the grid in 10 races, across eight global cities.

New for season two is the introduction of Attack Mode providing an extra 20% in torque and power for a specified duration (defined at race) providing increased race strategy and additional overtaking opportunities. The series supports the launch of the Jaguar I-PACE, Jaguar’s first battery electric vehicle, and reinforces Jaguar Land Rover’s future electrification strategy, commitment to electric street racing and the team’s mission of ‘Fearless Progress’.  Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY partners include official tyre supplier Michelin, official charging partner ABB, technical partner Sabelt, official clothing supplier One All Sports, official racewear supplier Alpine Stars and official logistics partner DHL.