At the beginning of February 2017, the NextEV NIO Formula E Team announced Gérry Hughes as their new Team Principal.
Hughes joined the Team in December 2015 in the position of Chief Race Engineer. He took on duties as Acting Team Principal after the passing of Dr Martin Leach in November 2016 and will now fulfil the Team Principal role on a permanent basis. Alongside this role he is also taking up a new position of Head of Performance Programme for NIO.
Prior to Formula E, Hughes’s gained motorsport experience fulfilling engineering roles with Caterham, Cosworth, LOLA, Super Aguri, Red Bull, Jordan and Jaguar in Formula 1 as well as Indycar and touring cars.
“Taking on the role of project lead for both the Formula E team and EP9 supercar programmes will include new challenges for me, but they are challenges that my team and I relish. I am extremely honoured that William Li and Lihong Qin have given me this opportunity and I will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that both programmes are a success going forwards” said Hughes.
Dr Martin Leach, a co-founder of the NextEV electric car company, died at the age of 59 after fighting a serious illness.