The element of surprise is perfect. Even before the international media representatives are allowed to drive the new Opel Corsa GSE on the test track of the Driving Camp Pachfurth for the first time, Marketing Vice President Rebecca Reinermann invites the guests into the foyer. The Opel GSE 27FE is already waiting there – the high-tech racing car with which the Opel will compete in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship for the first time next season.

“Today you are the first to get to know our second Formula E driver,” says Reinermann. Until the official announcement the next morning, the embargo period applies. Then the curtain slides aside: Mitch Evans enters the room. The most successful driver in Formula E completes the driver line-up of the new Opel GSE Formula E Team.

Anyone who moves in the cosmos of Formula E cannot avoid his name. With 16 victories, the 32-year-old New Zealander is the most successful driver in the history of the racing series. For ten years, he helped shape a factory team as a driver and developer. Now a joint chapter begins for Evans and Opel with the new GEN4 cars. “After ten years with one manufacturer, it was time for a fresh challenge,” says Evans. “With the arrival of the new GEN4 cars, the perfect moment has come to start something new.”

“We are starting with our dream team. Mitch was our preferred candidate from the beginning,” emphasises Opel Motorsport Director and Team Principal Jörg Schrott. “His signing underlines the seriousness of the entire project. We are sending a clear message: We are coming into the world championship to challenge at the front.”

Team player with record record

Together with the 23-year-old Théo Pourchaire, Evans forms a driver duo that unites two generations: Formula E experience meets one of the greatest young talents in international motorsport. The team is completed by test and development driver Sophia Flörsch, who has accompanied the development of the Opel GSE 27FE from the very beginning.

For Evans, the move to Opel feels like the logical next step at the right time. After a dramatic final weekend in London, he was once again denied the first world championship title of his career by a razor-thin margin, but his motivation remains unbroken. “The world championship title clearly remains the big goal for me. In this respect, I still have a score to settle in Formula E.”

In conversation with the journalists in Pachfurth, Austria, Evans seems calm and concentrated. When asked why he chose Opel, he does not first talk about the car, but about the people. Even during the first conversations, he felt “how much energy and passion” there was in the project. Everyone was working towards the same goal.

The way Evans talks about motorsport fits in with this: he rarely says “I”, almost always saying “we”. He explains great successes with teamwork, strategy and attention to detail. Talent alone is not enough. “In addition to his undisputed exceptional sporting class, he also fits perfectly into our team on a personal level,” says Schrott. He describes Evans‘ first test drive in the Opel GSE 27FE as a “magical moment”: After just a few laps, you could feel how quickly driver and vehicle formed a unit.

Théo Pourchaire – the exceptional talent

Hardly any other young driver has attracted attention as early as Théo Pourchaire in recent years. Even as a teenager, the Frenchman was considered one of the greatest talents in international motorsport. In 2023, he won the FIA Formula 2 Championship, then gained experience as a development driver in Formula 1 and as a regular driver in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

With the move to Opel, the 23-year-old is now opening a new chapter. In Formula E, he is to develop his talent in a new works team – and help shape the future of electric motorsport together with the engineers.

Sophia Flörsch – more than a test driver

Sophia Flörsch plays a key role in the Opel GSE Formula E Team. As a test and development driver, she has been involved in the development of the Opel GSE 27FE from the very beginning. Her task: to incorporate findings from the simulator and the test drives into the further development of the vehicle.

The 25-year-old brings experience from Formula 3, the World Endurance Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. At the same time, she is committed to more diversity in motorsport.

When asked about his first connection to Opel, Evans has to smile. Not a race. Not a commercial. But a game console. “I actually know Opel from the DTM games on the PlayStation,” he says. For a boy from New Zealand, this was his first encounter with the brand with a long motorsport history.

Know-how for series production

It is no coincidence that Mitch Evans is celebrating his first official appearance with the Opel Blitz during the test drives of the new Corsa GSE. It is an expression of the GSE strategy: motorsport and series development are growing even closer together. Formula E is much more than a racing series. It serves as a technology laboratory for Opel. “In the future, findings from development and racing operations will flow directly into the brand’s electric high-performance models,” emphasises Rebecca Reinermann.

The best example is waiting right outside the door. A few minutes after the driver presentation, the guests take their seats in the new Corsa GSE. On the test track, they experience how much motorsport is already in the all-electric production model – from the chassis concept derived from rallying to the mechanical Torsen limited-slip differential. Racing technology for everyday use.

With the driver presentation in Pachfurth, the Formula E driver team is complete – and the next milestone is already imminent. In October, Opel will present the final design of the Opel GSE 27FE at the Paris Motor Show together with Mitch Evans and Théo Pourchaire. “In just over a hundred days, the starting lights will turn green,” says Jörg Schrott. The Rüsselsheim Formula E adventure begins on December 18 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The countdown is on

Until then, further development, testing and tuning will continue. The team is in place. Drivers, vehicle and team continue to grow together. The goal for the first season is clear: Opel does not only want to make up the numbers in Formula E, but challenge for victories right from the start.