James Barclay
Jaguar TCS Racing Team Principal and Managing Director, JLR Motorsport
James Barclay was appointed Team Principal for Jaguar’s Formula E programme in November 2015 and he has been responsible for managing the exciting return to motorsport in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship for the British brand.
Over the last eight years, James has overseen the growth of Jaguar TCS Racing into a race-winning team, from the team’s first Formula E win at the Rome E-Prix in April 2019, to making history at the Berlin E-Prix with the team’s first 1-2 finish in the 2023 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.
Across seven seasons, [as of December 2023] the team have secured 12 wins, 32 podiums, a full podium lock-out with Jaguar-powered cars, the first win in both races in a double-header weekend in Rome and a total of 1,043 championship points.
In 2021, James Barclay was appointed to the newly created position of Managing Director of JLR Motorsport in addition to his Team Principal role for the Jaguar TCS Racing Formula E team. In this expanded leadership role, James leads JLR’s Motorsport division. He plays a key role in supporting JLR’s Reimagine strategy and the introduction of Jaguar as a pure-electric luxury brand from 2025 while helping to deliver JLR’s sustainable future and digital transformation.
Jaguar’s Return to Racing – Formula E
Following Jaguar’s seven wins at Le Mans in the 1950s and 1988 and 1990, they re-entered racing with a team for the Formula 1 championship for the five seasons from 2000 to 2004. With the team having finished the championship in no higher position than seventh, Jaguar’s then parent company, Ford, decided to sell the team which took the name of one of its main sponsors – Red Bull.
On 15 December 2015 Jaguar announced its return to global motorsport with plans to enter the third season of the exciting FIA Formula E Championship as a manufacturer with its own team. Formula E is the world’s first global single-seater championship for electric powered cars, and became an official FIA World Championship in the 2020–21 season. Competing in the pinnacle of all-electric motorsport offers a unique opportunity for JLR to further the development of EV powertrain technology for the benefit of future road cars.
Jaguar’s Technical Partner for its FIA Formula E programme is Fortescue WAE (formerly Williams Advanced Engineering) who provide extensive motorsport knowledge, combined with high performance EV Systems experience and success. JLR have a long term relationship with Williams Advanced Engineering, who partnered with Jaguar on the development of the Jaguar C-X75 hybrid concept car.
Early Career
James Barclay was born and raised in Kyalami in South Africa, attending high school in Pretoria. He developed an interest in racing, first working at the Zwartkops Raceway before he started actually racing himself.
He moved to the UK in 1995 and his love of racing stayed with him eventually becoming involved in karting at a national level. Success with Vauxhall in a scholarship scheme led to his progression into car racing which included time with the British marque and then onto Lotus Motorsport in 2000 and 2001.
After completing his degree in Marketing, an opportunity opened up on the business side of racing at Bentley Motors Ltd and he became UK PR Manager, responsible for UK media activities during Bentley’s successful return to the Le Mans 24 hours.
In 2006, he was appointed Head of PR & Marketing for the Asia Pacific region and lived in Singapore until 2008 when he was appointed as Head of Marketing for Bentley Motors Inc, which saw him living in Boston, Massachusetts. During his time with Bentley he remained involved in motorsport and was involved in the development of the business case for Bentley’s Continental GT3 programme.
In 2013 he was hired by JLR to manage Global Brand Partnerships and Sport which included a brief to evaluate a return to motorsport for Jaguar. He was appointed Team Director for Jaguar Racing in November 2015 when the company announced its return to international motorsport with FIA Formula E, becoming the first premium car maker to join the new all-electric racing series. He has managed the team continuously from the outset.
In 2021, Barclay was appointed to the newly created position of Managing Director, JLR Motorsport in addition to his Team Principal position of the Jaguar TCS Racing Formula E Team. In this expanded leadership role, James leads JLR’s Motorsport division.
In 2023, he led Jaguar TCS Racing to finish runners-up in the 2023 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship with 292 points – the team’s biggest points haul in Formula E.
In addition to his work in Formula E, he was instrumental in the launch of the Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY – the world’s first electric touring car race series. As the main support series to the ABB FIA Formula E Championship for season five and six, the 10-race championship reinforced Jaguar’s commitment to electric vehicle technology.
He plays a key role in Reimagining Jaguar as a pure-electric luxury brand from 2025 while helping to deliver JLR’s sustainable future and digital transformation.
To hear a summary of Jaguar’s progress in Formula E, details of the technologies and innovations, and background to James’ early career, click on the YouTube clip below for an interview with Aki Anastasiou on his What’s Next platform, which was filmed in 2023 while Anastosiou was in South Africa and Barclay was at Silverstone.
Authors: Jaguar TCS Racing and Jaguar Cars Media with additional material by Tony Merrygold.
YouTube video clip is from the What’s Next with Aki Anastasiou podcast channel from South Africa.
© Text and Images – Jaguar TCS Racing, Jaguar Cars
Sources and Further Reading:
Smith, Sam, Formula E Manual: Racing For The Future (Evro Publishing, 2021)
Miller, Chad, The History of Formula E – Race to Race (2021)