Born and raised in Auckland, Nick Cassidy began karting at the age of just six but has since gone on to become one motorsport’s most promising and exciting young talents. The Tokyo-based New Zealander is the reigning Super Formula champion, as well as one of the most successful drivers in the history of the Toyota Racing Series and has even secured the coveted ‘triple crown’ of Japanese motorsport titles. Boasting an impressive 48.9% career podium percentage and 66 race wins, the Kiwi has achieved all this at the age of just 25 and now embarks on a new chapter with the Envision Virgin Racing Formula E Team from the 2020/2021 season.

His passion for four-wheeled racing was inspired by his father and uncle, both club racers themselves. With only small sponsorship funding behind him, Nick and his family worked their way around the New Zealand karting scene – often racing against the likes of Mitch Evans (Formula E driver) and Tom Blomqvist (son of renowned rally driver Stig).

Starting his single-seater career in Formula First championships in 2008, he quickly took the step up to race in Formula Ford Championships in both New Zealand and Australia, where he was named Rookie of the Year in 2010.

In 2011, Cassidy made his debut in the Toyota Racing Series clinching five podium finishes and winning an impressive two out of three races in the final race weekend. Finishing as runner-up behind team-mate Mitch Evans, Cassidy was yet again named Rookie of the Year.

Following his success, Cassidy moved across to Europe to race in Formula Renault and then Formula Three with British team T Sport. He was selected to do the final two rounds of the European Championship for the team and then competed in the blue-ribbon Macau Grand Prix – where he was engineered to an impressive debut podium (2014) by Stephen Lane – the same race engineer that will now support him at Envision Virgin Racing.

This catapulted his career in Japanese motorsport, where he has firmly established himself as one of the rising stars of the future – racing in both open wheel and GT racing through the Super Formula and Super GT championships.

With Cassidy now on the radar of many international teams, it was Envision Virgin Racing that saw his true potential and offered him a test in their 174mph all-electric Formula E car during the championship’s rookie test back in March in Marrakesh. Here, he not only posted the fastest time out of 23 other drivers but set a new lap record for the circuit, proving he was a force to be reckoned with.

Continuing his work for the team during the worldwide lockdown, Cassidy competed in the opening rounds of Formula E’s Race at Home eSports Challenge bringing home a maiden podium in just the second race. The developing relationship between Cassidy and the team meant he became the obvious candidate to join Envision Virgin Racing for season seven where the series will also earn world championship status.

Frijns ended his karting career in 2008, gaining a scholarship to compete in Formula BMW the following year. He completed his first season in Formula BMW as best rookie and third place overall. Following a successful first year, Robin went on to clinch the overall championship title in 2010, with six wins, 13 podium and three pole positions.

In 2011, he moved to the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup Championship, where Robin yet again proved himself by winning the championship in his rookie season.

Success in the European Championship saw Robin graduate into the World Series by Renault 3.5 category for 2012. Competing with Fortec Motorsports Robin once again showed his talent by winning in his debut season.

In 2013, with the success of three European single seater titles in a row behind him, Frijns was offered a seat at Sauber Formula 1 where he became the F1 test and reserve driver. During this season, Robin competed in selective GP2 races and after just two races had secured a win. In 2014 Robin became the official test driver for Caterham F1.

Frijns continued to race in single-seaters but after a difficult season switched to GT racing for 2015. This decision proved rewarding yet again as he won the Blancpain GT series. In 2016, Robin continued in this championship alongside the Blancpain Sprint and Endurance series with WRT Audi Customer racing. This year he also became an official factory works driver for Audi Motorsport.

Alongside his GT career, Robin entered the FIA Formula E Championship in season two as a driver for Andretti Autosport. Frijns finished 10th in his first race and continued to score a podium in Putrajaya that season. He finished in the points in the following two races, scoring all of Andretti’s points for the season and making him the first Formula E rookie to finish his first four races in the top 10. In the 2016/17 season, Robin continued with Andretti, with a new partner, and continued to score points.

In January 2018, Frijns gained a seat for Audi Sport driving in the DTM Championship. Returning to Formula E with the Envision Virgin Racing team, Robin had a successful first season with the team wrapping up in third place. Frijns secured his first race win at the Paris E-Prix, a race that saw the Dutchman battle through rain, wind and hail whilst nurturing a broken front wing to finish on the top spot.

Lei Zhang is the founder and CEO of Envision Group, as well as Team Owner of the Envision Virgin Racing team.

In 2006, he returned from overseas and founded Envision Group, starting with a team of just 10 employees. Today, Envision Group has grown to become the world’s leading energy technology company. Among its various business units, the group currently owns China’s third largest battery company – Envision AESC, the second largest smart wind turbine company – Envision Energy, and the world’s largest Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things (AIoT) operating system – EnOS™.

Lei is also a representative of the National People’s Congress, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (NPC & CPPCC) and ‘China’s Recruitment Programme of Global Experts’. He was named as one of the “Top 10 Sino-U.S. Innovators of the Year” by Forbes China and was reported as cover people by Fortune magazine. He was also elected as the commissioner of a world leading organization, the Energy Transition Commission (ETC).

In 2019, Envision Group was ranked in the Top 10 of the world’s ‘50 Smartest Companies’ by the MIT Technology Review.

Based in Shanghai, Franz Jung is Chairman of the Board for the Envision Virgin Racing team. His main duties are to oversee the international Marketing and PR communications in order to strengthen the Envision brand globally.

He has more than 25 years of international experience in leading roles as a Senior Executive, including working with major global automotive brands.

Prior to working at Envision, Franz worked for Porsche AG as Vice President of Overseas Regions and Emerging Markets. From 2015, he was appointed as President and CEO of Porsche China, responsible for corporate strategic planning and management at Porsche China. During his three years at Porsche China, he successfully led the marque to new heights and made China the largest single market in Porsche globally for three consecutive years.

Before joining Porsche, Mr. Jung worked for almost two decades for the BMW Group. His positions included President and CEO of the BMW Group Nordic and BMW Group Canada and BMW Group Italy. From 2003 until 2006, he was working in Beijing as Senior Vice President Sales & Marketing for the BMW Group Joint Venture.

In his spare time, he loves fishing and spending time with his family.

Sylvain grew up in Paris and after obtaining a Master’s degree in business in 2003, he started his career in the automotive industry, working for Mercedes-Benz and smart. He then moved to London in 2007 to expand his career in automotive consulting, leading the Frenchman to discover the world (nascent at the time) of EVs through various projects for OEMs.

Falling in love with the technology (driving an early 2008 Tesla Roadster certainly played a role!) and realising its disruption potential, Sylvain decided to co-found his own start-up in 2009 to set up the world’s first circuit race series for zero emission electric vehicles – the EV Cup.

A strong EV advocate from the early days and an electric car owner himself, Sylvain then moved to Formula E, joining the team from the very beginning in 2013 as a founding member. Now in his 6th season with the team, Sylvain leads the Envision Virgin Racing Formula E Team in his role of Managing Director and CTO, where he has overall responsibility of all aspects of the team, from sporting to commercial.

Sylvain has the strong belief that the combination of renewable energy (with energy storage), smart grids and mass adoption of EVs has the potential to radically improve our lives and be part of the solution to fight climate change, hence his passion for Race Against Climate Change (RACC), the team’s sustainability programme.

Sylvain is married with two young daughters, lives in Surrey (England) and splits his time between the team’s London and Silverstone offices. The nature of his job gives little time for hobbies, but Sylvain enjoys cycling and sailing (mostly in fair weather!) and spending time with his young family.

With over 20 years’ experience, Leon has worked in practically all areas of motorsport. Starting out in the FIA GT Championship before moving on to the American Le Mans Series and the European Le Mans Series, he worked in Renault V6 as a No.1 mechanic, before entering GP2 (now FIA Formula 2) and the GP2 Asia Series as a Team Manager and Chief Mechanic.

He then joined GP3 Series as Head of Operations before entering the world of Formula E, joining the team at the end of season one. His many years of experience have allowed him to have a strong leadership role within the race team, working with both mechanics and engineers, to ensure the smooth running of the team on and off track. Whilst at home, Leon enjoys spending time with his family, as well as supporting his favourite football team, Chelsea.

Working in close collaboration with Leon Price and Sylvain Filippi, Chris works as the team’s Technical Director heading up the engineers’ department. Educated at Coventry University, Chris boasts more than three decades of frontline engineering experience in virtually every level of motorsport outside of Formula 1.

Starting in the design office of Reynard, and then working in many of the feeder series to Formula 1 including GP2, WSR 3.5 and Formula 3, Chris worked for manufacturer teams in Le Mans Prototype Sportscars and Touring cars, benefiting from the quality of professional drivers and partners to achieve championship successes.

In January 2016 Chris joined the team having briefly consulted for competitors in Formula E. He is an invaluable member of the company, still travelling to races, whilst directing through his engineering team the planning and smooth operation of simulation, race strategy and driver performance. When not working, Chris now enjoys dabbling in property development and pottering in his garden.

At Envision Virgin Racing, Jenn is responsible for all non-race specific affairs, from HR to RACC strategy, our Carbon Neutrality status to Partnership Agreements, business optimisation to corporate governance, and anything else you can think of in between. Alongside Sylvain, James Mercer, Chris and Leon, she forms part of the Team’s executive management. With over 10 years working in renewables, Jenn is passionate about using Formula E as a platform to accelerate our transition to a zero-carbon future so that she can look herself in the mirror every day and know that she is doing what she can to make a difference.

Prior to joining the Team in February 2019, Jenn was Chief of Staff at the UK Green Investment Bank, the UK’s £3.8bn green investment fund, established to commercialise green investment into renewable energy projects within the UK and was responsible, amongst other things, for advising the Chief Executive on key business and strategic priorities. Before that she was Legal Counsel at Element Power, a wind and solar power producer overseeing their northern European wind and solar developments, and responsible for global tax planning and HR, and before that a Senior Associate at Norton Rose Fulbright, in their London office, specialising in corporate finance and private equity investments.

Born in Middlesbrough, but spending a large part of her early childhood in Kwangyang, South Korea and then studying Law at Oxford University, Jenn now lives in London with her husband, 2 children, 2 cats and a growing collection of taxidermy, some of which she has “made” herself.

James is based at the London Office for the team and has responsibility for driving and nurturing all key revenue streams. He joined the team in January 2019 from British Tennis where he was a member of the Executive Team in his role of Commercial Director. He has held similar roles at the Rugby Football League and the FIA World Rally Championships, where he also assumed the position as TV & Media Director.

James has worked with some of the biggest brands in the world and has enjoyed tremendous success in attracting title sponsors to a variety of different domestic and global sports and platforms including Fever-Tree (Queen’s), First Utility (Super League), Monster Energy (Isle of Man TT), Tetley’s (Challenge Cup), Nokia (FIA World Rally Championship) and BNP Paribas (Davis Cup).