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First team commits to Formula E

Alejandro Agag: "Having a team like Drayson join our ranks gives the FIA Formula E a true electric racing DNA" © Formula E

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Drayson Racing has become the first team to sign up for the inaugural Formula E championship in 2014.

The FIA's new electric championship will see cars racing in city centres, with Rio de Janeiro and Rome already confirmed as host cities. The series promoter - Formula E Holdings - has now agreed for the Drayson Racing Formula E Team to be proposed to the FIA as the first of ten teams to take part in the opening season.

Team principal Lord Drayson says the series has "very significant commercial potential" after confirming the team will run the McLaren and Spark-developed customer car in 2014 before entering it's own design the following year.

"We are hugely excited about the prospect of competing in the opening season of FIA Formula E," Lord Drayson said. "We aim to be one of the front runners from the start, leveraging the knowhow we've built up over the past two years working on electric drivetrains and developing our 200 mph electric Le Mans prototype. We believe that FIA Formula E has very significant commercial potential, it will attract new fans and new sponsors to motorsport and is on track to become the world's leading environmentally sustainable global sporting event."

Alejandro Agag, CEO of Formula E Holdings, said that Drayson's history gives the championship added credibility.

"Today is a very special day for the FIA Formula E Championship," Agag said. "Announcing Drayson Formula E team as the first of the 10 teams proposed to take part in the competition is a very important step in the creation of the first sustainable global motor sport Championship. Having a team like Drayson join our ranks, gives the FIA Formula E a true electric racing DNA, as the British company represents, like no other, the passion for research and technology in the field of green motor sport.

"Lord Drayson is a true pioneer in electric racing, and our championship identifies completely with his goals and his ambitions. We look forward to see the Drayson Formula E Team racing in the heart of great cities around the world, first with the Spark customer car, and then with his own technology, that will contribute to the advance of electric cars in our cities."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.