The Electric GT Championship, the world’s first 100% zero-emissions GT championship, is delighted to welcome Jeroen Bleekemolen and Kevin Ceccon into the EGT Drivers’ Club.
Sportscar racing ace Bleekemolen and GP2 graduate Ceccon are firm supporters of the series’ core values of integrity and environmental responsibility and bring a combined 25 years of professional expertise to the championship, which will launch in 2017.
They join Stefan Wilson, Vicky Piria, Dani Clos, Leilani Munter, Tom Coronel, Alice Powell, Tom Onslow-Cole and Ricardo Teixeira in the ever-growing EGT Drivers’ Club, from which an eventual 20 drivers will be chosen to race the all-new Tesla Model S P100D.
Bleekemolen (@jbleekemolen), 35, from Heemstede in the Netherlands, is one of the busiest racing drivers on the planet, having competed six 24 hour races on three continents in 2016. The decorated Dutchman’s stellar record includes victories in the Nürburgring 24 Hours, Le Mans 24 Hours, Petit Le Mans, Sebring 12 Hours, back-to-back Porsche Supercup championships and the 2013 American Le Mans Series GTC title. Bleekemolen represented Opel in the DTM for two years, and also raced single-seaters with distinction, winning two rounds of the A1 GP World Cup of Motorsport. He becomes the second Dutchman to join the series after Coronel, reuniting the pair for the first time since they shared a GT2 Spyker at Le Mans in 2010.
Bleekemolen said: “Since I first heard about the EGT championship, I followed it closely. It is a very exciting opportunity for a racing driver to be involved in. Electric racing is going to be big and I can't wait to get some seat time in the EGT car.”
Ceccon (@KevinCeccon), 23, from Clusone, Italy, is a highly-rated single-seater graduate, born just an hour’s drive to the east of Monza. A champion of the Auto GP series in 2011, beating future F1 driver Rio Haryanto, Ceccon won twice in three seasons of GP3 and earned an opportunity to test with Toro Rosso at Abu Dhabi in 2011.
Ceccon said: “I'm really happy to be part of the EGT Drivers’ Club, I look forward to joining the series and seeing how it develops. I’m excited to drive the Tesla and hopefully will have the chance to test it soon. From my point of view electric cars are the future, so let's start with the Age of Light!”
Electric GT Championship CEO Mark Gemmell added: “I am delighted to welcome Jeroen and Kevin to the Electric GT Drivers’ Club. They both come with excellent CVs and will be a real asset to the championship as we build towards the start of the championship in 2017.”
The EGT Championship will consist of 20 international drivers, both male and female, racing for 10 professional teams in identical Tesla Model S machines equipped with the latest OMP safety equipment and running on bespoke Pirelli tyres. EGT will visit seven classic European circuits in its inaugural season, including Paul Ricard, Barcelona, Assen, Estoril and the Nürburgring, before staging three non-championship races in the Americas.
