30-minute film will mark the first television appearance of Extreme E.
Channel 4 is airing a documentary about futuristic motorsport Extreme E, which sees electric SUVs race off-road in extremely remote parts of the world.
The film, titled How to Build a Racing Car, is scheduled for Thursday, 25 June – “right after Celebrity Gogglebox,” says Extreme E producer/director Tommy Zalucki.
It’s Extreme E’s first television appearance, and provides insight into the sport and how the team behind it built the Extreme E racing car.
Channel 4 has picked up exclusive rights for the doc in the UK. Its head of sport Pete Andrews said: “It’s interesting to see the next generation of motorsport come to UK screens for the first time on C4”.
Extreme E has also secured deals to screen the doc from international broadcasters including Nat Geo and Eurosport.
How to Build a Racing Car was produced in-house and post-produced by Aurora Media.
Zalucki explained to Broadcast Sport: “It took about a year of filming bits and pieces that we knew would make it to the final cut. Whenever something significant would happen (such as a car test) we’d get a crew there to cover it.”
The purpose of the film is to introduce new audiences to the new sport ahead of the first race in 2021.
“When you launch a racing championship, the first thing anyone cares about is the car. This is answering that question and showing off the all-electric monster we’ve built. We tried to create reference points to other motorsports so audiences can understand what we’re trying to do; so have everyone in the show from Ken Block to David Coulthard. These touching points will aim to give us credibility as the new kid on the block.
“Post-producing under lockdown had limitations and all editorial decisions were led over the phone. The programme might have turned out differently if we had more flexibility with the edit but it was finished remotely nonetheless.
Zalucki revealed that Extreme E still plans to launch at the beginning of 2021 as, he says, “the lockdown hasn’t really affecting the way we work too much. In fact, the very ethos of the series is socially distant – off-road racing in the most remote corners of planet earth.”