How Cupra Kiro Is Reimagining Formula E

When Forest Road acquired a struggling ERT Formula E team in October 2024, few expected a fairytale so soon. But just months later, their driver, Dan Ticktum, took the newly rebranded Cupra Kiro to victory at the Jakarta E-Prix. And while champagne sprayed in the tropics, back at HQ, the tears were real, a release years in the making, for a team that’s weathered setback after setback, rebrand after rebrand, since Formula E’s inaugural season.

“It’s just an amazing feeling,” said Jeremy Tarica, Managing Director of The Forest Road Company. “The history of the team is very fascinating. They’ve been through a lot, so the tears coming after this win were just so special, so emotional.”

The Acquisition

The win in Jakarta was the high point of a whirlwind few months that began with what Tarica calls a “serendipitous” deal. As Formula E entered its eleventh season, Forest Road, an investment firm with deep roots in media and entertainment, spotted a rare opening. One of just eleven teams on the grid, ERT had long struggled at the back of the pack, and its Chinese ownership group was ready to move on.

“We have a really good relationship with Liberty Global, who, right around the same time, bought a controlling stake in Formula E,” said Tarica.

Liberty Global also own other motorsports such as Formula 1, MotoGP and World Superbike.

“They’re a behemoth in the media and entertainment space, started by a guy named John Malone, sometimes called the cable cowboy, a complete legend. When they made their move, it told us there was real potential here. That was square one,” he added.

From there, things moved fast. “It’s not every day you can just buy a racing team,” Tarica added. “They’re rarely for sale. There are only eleven of them.”

But the timing lined up. They connected with the ERT owners at the right moment, got smart on what was going on in the league, and within six weeks, they had a deal.

Fandom First

Rebranding a team is never simple, especially one that’s undergone several iterations already. The biggest challenge is perhaps giving it an identity bold enough to stand out, on the grid and in the sport space as a whole.

“You don’t want to be confined to the ceiling of the league success,” said Tarica. “You want to try to create your own brand and identity and and commercial acumen and storytelling that transcends the league.”

“You have an obligation to the league as a team within it, to drive as much fandom and success at the team level as possible,” he added.

As a company that already knows the entertainment space, Forest Road approached it in ways few motorsport outfits dare to try. With co-owners like Idris Elba, brand collaborations with Marvel, and moments featuring creators like MrBeast, Cupra Kiro is finding new ways to improve fan engagement.

But beyond celebrity backing and social media campaigns lies a real effort to convert casual attention into committed support. Old fans from the ERT days are hanging on. New fans, especially younger ones, are buying in, drawn by a team that looks different and doesn’t act like it belongs in the old motorsport guard.

“That [fandom] doesn’t necessarily at the onset need to be a billion fans…just the amount of people that follow the team that are so passionate about seeing the team,” said Tarica.

“There’s some existing fans that we’re hopefully making happy by the success we’re going to deliver them. But then there’s all these new fans that we want to bring in, and we want that that fandom action level to be really, really high,” he added.

The Commercial Gamble

Motorsports isn’t cheap. Whilst Formula E isn’t quite in the arms race of Formula 1, running a competitive team still burns through millions. So beneath the rebreands, the influencer moments, the real question is whether the model actually works.

For Forest Road, the answer starts with structure. Formula E’s tight regulations with the same chassis and limited engine development create a relatively level playing field. That means it’s not just about who can throw the most money at wind tunnels.

They’re buying into a story with the comeback, the chaos, the content. That’s where Kiro gets its leverage.

It’s how Cupra, part of the Volkswagen Group, signed on before a single race under the new name. And it’s why more partners are circling now, drawn not just to podiums, but to visibility, storytelling, and cultural capital.

The Endgame

In a sport built on legacy thinking, Forest Road brings a lack of orthodoxy. And that, paradoxically, could be its edge.

Or, as Tarica put it: “We are unshackled by the conventional way of thinking of this sport, because we don’t know anything about it.”

It’s not the kind of thing you expect to hear from someone running a racing team, and maybe that’s the point. Forest Road isn’t trying to replicate what works elsewhere. It’s not here to play catch-up with motorsport royalty. Instead, it’s treating Formula E like a blank page.

“We’re just trying to do great things and tell great stories that are universal, that are not a motorsport thing,” Tarica said. “And in that way, it encapsulates that sentence of redefining racing.”

With no deep motorsport roots, the team risks alienating traditionalists. But that’s a trade-off they’re willing to make because the bet is on people and the attention.

What began as a longshot acquisition has become something far more compelling in the motorsport space. The win in Jakarta was a breakthrough, an underdog moment that had fans paying attention. And more recently, the signing of Bianca Bustamante as a development driver, followed by her rookie test outing in Berlin, gestures toward a deeper intent. Cupra Kiro is trying to climb the grid but it’s also testing what’s possible when a team builds without following the usual playbook.