Fortescue Zero has signed Taylor Barnard as the first confirmed driver for its new Formula E team ahead of the 2026/27 GEN4 season.
The company announced the appointment on 12 October 2026. Barnard joins the Australian-owned operation after competing for DS PENSKE, whose Formula E business Fortescue acquired in September. The team says its second driver will be announced separately.
First driver appointment follows the Penske acquisition
Barnard is 22 and became Formula E’s youngest race winner during the 2025/26 season. Fortescue reports that he has recorded six podiums, two pole positions and one victory from 36 starts. Those figures are company-supplied career context rather than performance targets for the new programme.
The signing gives Team Principal Jim Wright a driver familiar with the personnel and operating environment inherited from DS PENSKE while Fortescue establishes its own identity. Barnard’s experience of Formula E energy management and engineering feedback also provides continuity as the championship introduces an all-new car.
Fortescue has not disclosed the length or financial terms of the contract. The release also does not identify Barnard’s race engineer, car number, commercial partners or the team’s second driver.
Appointment links racing and engineering objectives
Fortescue says its Formula E entry will support development of high-performance electric technology alongside the sporting programme. Barnard described the team as an opportunity to help build a new operation and contribute to that development work. MRI has paraphrased the company’s claims rather than treating them as independently verified performance outcomes.
The team is entering the first GEN4 season, in which Formula E says its new car can produce up to 600kW in Attack Mode and uses permanent all-wheel drive. Those specifications apply to the championship platform, not to a proprietary Fortescue chassis.
The verified development is Barnard’s appointment as the first member of the race-driver line-up. No feature image has been used because reusable first-party permission was not established. The article is connected to Fortescue Zero’s exact MRI profile and retains its existing approved profile assets without alteration.