Enrolled in the FIA Formula E Championship under partnership with Virgin Racing, DS Automobiles created in August 2015 its motorsport division, DS Performance.
Xavier Mestelan Pinon is appointed head of DS Performance starting from 1 January 2016.
In June 2015, DS Automobiles announced its engagement in the FIA Formula E Championship, whose races are run by all-electric single-sitter cars at centrally located racetracks in major cities around the world. The two partners join their forces and form the DS Virgin Racing team.
To harness its technological expertise in research and development in Formula E, DS Automobiles set up a motorsport division, named DS Performance. DS Performance engineers have contributed to the development of the drivetrain of the DSV-01, the DS Virgin Racing team’s racing car. They also designed the car’s cooling system, rear suspension and transmission.
Xavier Mestelan Pinon is appointed head of DS Performance on 1 January 2016.
Xavier Mestelan Pinon, a graduate of the Estaca engineering school, joined Citroën Sport in 1995 with initial duties in customer-competition operations. In 2000 he took charge of operations for Bruno Thiry’s Xsara Kit-Car in the European championship and Sébastien Loeb’s car in the Var Rally. It proved a winning combination!
His career ties in closely with the successful performance of the Citroën World Rally Team: he was put in charge of WRC programme operations in 2001, then appointed chassis manager in 2003. He became head of the technical department in March 2005, then deputy director of Citroën Racing in January 2012.
DS Performance is based at Versailles Satory, near Paris, and is part of the PSA Motorsports Centre of Excellence.
