Drew Feustel completes the Extreme E Trophy Challenge judging panel

Andrew Feustel, better known as Drew, has two main passions in life: motorsport and the Earth.

His love of racing started young; at 10 years old he raced in motocross, at 13 BMX, and then onto karts at the age of 20. He worked as an automotive mechanic during college, before continuing to university and obtaining a PhD in Geological Sciences, which led him to his career as an astronaut.

For as long as Drew can remember, motorsport has been part of his life, from creating his own kart to head out onto the local frozen lake with chains strapped to the tires, to supporting his own children during their karting hobby as teens in a variety of roles, namely team principle, sponsor, chief mechanic, and cook, as well as transporter.  

He said: “Those were amazing times for me, watching them rip past the start/finish line at over 80 mph took me right back to the same experiences I had as a young adult. There is nothing quite like that raw feeling of speed so close to the surface of the Earth!”  

And it’s for this reason Extreme E caught his interest. Drew said: “I am thrilled that two pivotal aspects of my own life, motorsports and global protection, are being pursued concurrently with such positive messaging for both.”  

Extreme E aims to raise awareness of the climate crisis through sport and Drew’s career and life experiences have given him a unique perspective of the planet. He went on to say: “I have an innate love and respect for our home - planet Earth. As somebody who has spent 226 days orbiting our planet from as high as 350 miles, I have come to appreciate the vulnerability of our species. Earth is simply floating in the vast darkness of space.  And space looks to be nothing more than a black void with stars and galaxies so far in the distance that when you see them from space, you can really sense how very isolated we are.” 

During his time orbiting Earth, Drew has been able to recognise the environmental challenges that Extreme E seeks to address by bringing the focus of the racing community to regions of the planet that face ecological challenges, all of which are exacerbated simply by the existence of humans.

Drew has taken on the role as one of the judges of Extreme E’s Trophy Competition, an opportunity for fans to design trophies for the race winners, and the brief was to keep the environment at the forefront of the design. There have been over 100 entries from 31 countries and to capture Drew’s attention, participants need to illustrate the union between the global climate awareness mission of Extreme E and the racing in both a creative and passionate way.

Drew completes the judging panel which also includes Catie Munnings, Driver for Andretti United, Jayne Connell, Partner at Interstate and Creative Lead of Extreme E, and Dr Lucy Woodall, Marine Biologist and Extreme E Ocean Scientist.

The winning trophy design will be revealed next week.