Luxury brand looks to electrify racing

As the new Formula E took to the track in Beijing on Sept 13 for its inaugural race, Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer was there keeping track of the times, as the official timekeeper for the world's first racing series for zero emissions electric cars.

With its long history of automotive timekeeping, the legendary watchmaker provided millisecond timing information for the teams, drivers, and spectators.

"TAG Heuer is a brand that has a very long association with motor racing. It has specialized in chronographs and measured short times since 1860," Stephane Linder, chief executive of the company, told China Daily before the event.

"We have always been fascinated by precision and worked very closely with the sport of motor racing," Linder said. "A watch brand needs to demonstrate its quality by precisely measuring time."

He said the Formula E Championship is new and exciting, and represents the future of motor racing and cars.

"Electric cars are becoming more and more important. We thought that idea of supporting this new motor sport, which is clean and green, is very much in line with the image and reputation of the TAG Heuer brand as it is very positive and advanced," Linder said.

"We like being avant-garde and innovative, so it was the right time to partner with Formula E."

The luxury watch manufacturer is the official sponsor of the Chinese team and its two drivers, Nelson Piquet Jr and Ho-Pin Tung.

"China is a very important market, and we think that chronographs will become more popular in China. Many young people prefer the more modern look of chronograph watches to that of classical watches" Linder said.

The brand was the first to develop dashboard chronographs for sports cars and the first to partner with racing drivers, and the company is keen to be involved with the future of the sport.

"An electric car is a clean way to drive, and it will become trendier as many well-known brands have already brought in electric engines," he said.

"They can be extremely fast; the challenge is how far they can go before they need to recharge," he said.

Alejandro Agag, chief executive of Formula E, said that it was a great honor to have a prestigious brand supporting the event from the start. The marriage of advanced technology and performance represented by TAG Heuer reflects the essence of Formula E.

After this Round One race in Beijing, Formula E will visit nine other cities, including Los Angeles, Miami, Berlin, Rio de Janeiro, Monte Carlo and London.

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