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Excessive E is likely one of the extra revolutionary concepts in racing, setting itself aside from different electrical championships with its off-road premise and different off-road sequence in its distinctive and distant areas, in addition to its Legacy Programmes and local weather consciousness campaigns. This even extends to emergency transport as rescue staff attend to wrecked vehicles in a closely modified navy gentle automobile.
On the season-ending Energy X Prix in November, the sequence débuted a pair of rescue automobiles dubbed the MDD-1 and MDD-2. Constructed by XE staff Chip Ganassi Racing, each are constructed on the platform of HDT International‘s Storm Search and Rescue Tactical Automobile (SRTV) utilized by the USA Armed Forces.
“We recognised the distant and excessive areas that will require a purpose-built medical response automobile that will have the ability to rapidly entry a crashed or broken Excessive E race automobile in difficult environments,” defined CGR XE supervisor Dave Berkenfield. “There may be nothing extra vital to Chip Ganassi Racing, Excessive E and all of the groups within the paddock than driver security, particularly whenever you consider how excessive and distant a few of these occasions are.”
Berkenfield was a United States Navy SEAL for over twenty years earlier than becoming a member of Ganassi as a mobility specialist and being named their Excessive E director forward of the inaugural season in 2021. By way of his navy connections, he procured a pair of unused SRTVs from their creator BC Customs which had been then transformed into their present state. The method, occurring at CGR’s base in Indianapolis, took over 100 hours and was a joint challenge with Whelen Engineering.
The “MDD” designation within the automobiles’ names refers to MDD Europe, who provides medical items for the FIA and sanctioned championships together with Excessive E.
“These wonderful automobiles permit us to mobilize our extraction and medical groups, all collectively in a single automobile, with upgraded extraction gear and the best degree of cell medical gear,” commented MDD head Mark Lait. “This mixed capability permits us to handle a number of simultaneous incidents and guarantee we are able to ship the best degree of look after the drivers, and transport them rapidly to the medical centre, even with probably the most difficult of terrain.”
Designed by BC Customs in 2004 and inducted into service in 2013, the Storm SRTV is utilized by the USA Air Drive as a part of its Guardian Angel search-and-rescue operations, therefore its official standing as a “Guardian Angel Air-Deployable Rescue Automobile” (GAARV). In its base kind, the SRTV is a 4×4 automobile that runs on a 430-horsepower engine and might exceed 161 km/h in velocity. As an off-road utility automobile, it’s able to navigating tough terrain whereas fulfilling navy talents with a number of weapon mount areas.
The Excessive E model additionally boasts dwell video feeds of the race course and upgraded communications relays to Race Management.
“Driver security is a crucial situation at Excessive E and we’re dedicated to having the best possible gear and options at our disposal,” acknowledged sequence chief officer James Taylor. “Excessive E has a world-class community of groups and personnel so when Dave Berkenfield and the Chip Ganassi Racing staff got here to us with this concept, we had been all ears. These purpose-built medical response automobiles are the results of prime navy operators drawing on their experiences on the entrance strains and transferring their expertise and information to the distant, excessive nature of our championship.”
Whereas the MDD-1 and -2 are examples of navy know-how making use of to racing, some parts of the previous have motorsport roots as effectively. NASCAR Cup Sequence staff Hendrick Motorsports, a technical ally of CGR till the latter sold their stock car division, has collaborated with Basic Motors’ defence department since 2020 to construct the Infantry Squad Automobile for the U.S. Military. The ISV is modelled after the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2, which is at the moment utilized in desert racing by Corridor Racing; the staff’s sister firm Rod Corridor Merchandise, whose late namesake is a Baja 1000 legend, offers automotive elements for the Armed Forces together with the ISV.
CGR completed fourth within the 2022 Excessive E standings with a victory on the first Island X Prix. Whereas Sara Value ran all 5 rounds for the staff, Baja 1000 competitor RJ Anderson helped unveil the MDD-1 and -2 in Uruguay as common driver Kyle LeDuc was unavailable.
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