FE: Sarrazin to remain with Venturi

Formula E podium finisher Stephane Sarrazin will remain with the Venturi team for a third season and believes the outfit can challenge the established manufacturers in the 2016/17 campaign.

The versatile Frenchman finished sixth in 2015-16 FE drivers' championship, scoring his and the team's first podium in Long Beach.

He was also the only person other than champion Sebastien Buemi to score points in every event.

Sarrazin confirmed to Autosport he had signed to stay with Venturi and said big changes to its powertrain, including "a completely different gearbox," would cut the gap to the likes of Renault e.dams and Abt Audi Sport.

"I hope for more than this season," Sarrazin told Autosport.

"We didn't do the big step like the others this season, like the gearbox, having four gears when most teams have two, and being very heavy, 24kg over the weight limit.

"That's massive. Next season it should be much better. I think, and I hope, we can catch the top teams."

While Venturi Automobiles is a manufacturer in its own right, specializing in electric vehicles and the pursuit of EV land-speed records, Sarrazin said it "started from zero" when it joined FE.

Venturi finished ninth of 10 entries in the inaugural FE teams' championship but improved to sixth in what Sarrazin called a "great" second campaign.

It has continued its partnership with McLaren Applied Technologies in the development of its second powertrain, with the British firm responsible for the electric motor and the motor control unit.

Sarrazin has participated in the team's behind-closed-doors testing of its VM200-FE-02 and the Toyota LMP1 driver said he was encouraged by its progress.

"After Le Mans I did a three-day test," he said. "It was tough stuff, but it's part of the game. I did three very good days, we are pushing a lot. It looks good, a big step.

"I was happy about the test but we need to work and to push. It's not ready but it's coming."

2016/17 FE DRIVER LINEUP SO FAR

Renault e.dams: Sebastien Buemi, Nico Prost
Abt Audi Sport: Lucas di Grassi, Daniel Abt
DS Virgin Racing: Sam Bird, Jose Maria Lopez
Dragon Racing: Jerome d'Ambrosio, Loic Duval
Mahindra: TBC
Venturi: Stephane Sarrazin, TBC
Andretti: Robin Frijns, TBC
Techeetah: Jean-Eric Vergne, Ma Qing Hua
NextEV: TBC
Jaguar: TBC

Originally on Autosport.com