Formula E

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Jean-Eric Vergne fended off his team-mate Andre Lotterer in a tense fight around the streets of Santiago to claim his second victory in Formula E and the first one two in the history of the electric street racing series.
 
The pair exchanged blows in the closing stages of the race with a gaggle of cars waiting behind to pounce, ensuring a nail-biting finish to the inaugural E-Prix in the Chilean capital.
 
Vergne led away from Julius Baer pole position with a number of cars making moves behind. Lotterer jumped Sebastien Buemi off the line to move into second place, but Panasonic Jaguar Racing driver Nelson Piquet Jr. caught them both unaware with a bold late-braking move around the outside of the first corner.
 
As the field streamed through the opening section, the squeeze came in the mid-field with Jose Maria Lopez running out of road in close proximity with Sam Bird and hitting the wall on the outside of Turn 2.
 
The Qualcomm safety car was deployed to clear both Lopez and the stricken Venturi of Maro Engel who went into the barriers at Turn 7. Piquet looked to have lost out on the restart, but piled the pressure on Vergne with a move for the lead only a few corners later.
 
Vergne placed his car well and held off a fast-charging Piquet despite a bump from behind, which wouldn’t be the only close-call in his wing mirrors for the remainder of the race.
 
Approaching the pit-stop phase, Vergne started to extend his lead to over three seconds as Piquet fell into the grasps of Lotterer. The German scythed his way into second place past Piquet and set his sights on his team-mate.
 
Lotterer slowly reeled in Vergne moving into his slipstream and drew alongside into the main overtaking point at Turn 1. Both drivers came perilously close to exchanging paintwork, but Vergne held his nerve and forced Lotterer to retreat.
 
However, Lotterer hadn’t thrown in the towel yet and tried to mirror the move again but misjudged his braking and hit the back of Vergne. Smoke poured from Vergne’s wheels as his team-mate was pushing him from behind.
 
Despite the helping hand from Lotterer, both cars managed to avoid the wall and the threat of other cars behind to deliver maximum points for TECHEETAH and vault the team to the top of the standings. It marks the first victory for Vergne since the season-finale in Montreal last year, which was also his first in Formula E.
 
Joining the two TECHEETAH drivers on the podium was Sebastien Buemi, showing once again that the form of Renault e.dams in Hong Kong was merely a blip. Buemi slipped backwards on the long run down into the first corner and struggled to match the pace of his rivals in the early phase of the race.
 
Buemi and Bird re-enacted their close duel in Marrakesh in the battle for fourth place, with the DS Virgin Racing driver hounding the back of his gearbox. The group held station until the mid-race car swaps, which saw Rosenqvist leap up the order ahead of Bird - allowing Buemi to focus on Piquet and surpass his fellow champion to secure a spot on the podium.
 
Rosenqvist - who entered Santiago as the points leader and the winner of the past two races - started way back in 14th after a dismal qualifying session, but salvaged points in fourth place.
 
Bird picked-up the additional point for Visa fastest lap and took the chequered flag in fifth after a slow pit-stop and benefitting from Piquet’s late lunge on Buemi into Turn 1. Piquet looked to re-take the position he lost earlier but locked his brakes and ended up losing time reversing out of the run-off area.
 
Piquet’s team-mate Mitch Evans followed close behind in seventh, with Jerome D’Ambrosio, Antonio Felix da Costa and Nico Prost rounding out the top 10 points-paying positions.
 
The next stop on the Formula E calendar sees the series return to Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez for the third edition of the Mexico City E-Prix for round five of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship on March 3.
 
 
 
Formula E

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Formula E and the FIA have released the first digital images of the next generation car for season five showcasing the futuristic new-look of the electric street racing series, with the covers coming off the physical model at the Geneva Motor Show on March 6.

Making its competitive debut for the 2018/19 FIA Formula E Championship, the fully-electric Gen2 car will be used for the next three seasons. The car visibly represents a new era for Formula E and further distinguishes the series from other categories in motorsport.

This is the first car ever to be created by the governing body for motorsport, with the FIA bringing together the world’s leading designers and engineers to work on the concept. The common package of specification parts will be homologated and built by the competing manufacturers to house their own bespoke powertrain.

The new car demonstrates a step-up in performance from the current iteration with almost double the energy storage capacity and double the range, meaning the teams and drivers will complete a full race distance at higher speeds without making a mid-race car swap. The Gen2 car is clear proof of the advancements in battery and electric motor technology achieved in the space of only four years.


The physical model of the Gen2 car together with full technical specifications will be revealed on the FIA stand at the Geneva Motor Show on March 6.

FIA President Jean Todt, said: “These are very exciting times for Formula E. Today we show for the first time the design of the next generation car, and I’m sure that everyone will be very excited by how futuristic and advanced it is. I’m very proud that the FIA has been at the forefront of this car’s development, it’s something new for the Federation, and the project has been a huge success. I can’t wait to take the covers off the real car when it will be seen for the first time in Geneva on March 6.”

Alejandro Agag, Founder & CEO of Formula E, said: “This car represents the future of racing. When we started Formula E, our goal was to break the mould and challenge the status quo - bringing a revolution to motorsport. This next generation car represents that revolution. The cars will be faster and will have almost double the amount of energy storage capacity and double the range, demonstrating the continuous evolution of battery technology. Together with the FIA, we’ve achieved a great milestone with the introduction of this car and I can’t wait to see it on track.”

Formula E

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Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag predicts his series will be the "main motorsport championship" for manufacturers in two decades time.

On Tuesday, the all-electric category revealed their new-look second-generation car to be raced from season five onwards and from season six, the grid will see the arrival of two German giants in Mercedes and Porsche.

With the ongoing political battle between teams and bosses in F1 right now over the future direction of the sport, many are tipping Formula E to take over as the top motorsport series and Agag believes much of that is due to changing perspectives on both championships.

“F1 is an entertainment proposition, [like] today, horse racing is an entertainment proposition and Formula E will be the main motorsport championship because it is the championship that is connected to the industry,” he told City A.M.

“In 20 years’ time, I don’t see anything bigger than Formula E."

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Some argue Formula E has already taken the lead from F1 in terms of promotion, with the recent title sponsor deal with AGG and F1 only now considering an online streaming service as well as owners Liberty Media seeing the success of the street circuit, shorter schedule format.

“They are copying many things we do,” Agag smiled. “But it might be a coincidence.”

 

Formula E

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It was (almost) a case of de ja vue here in Marrakesh, as last year's Pole man Felix Rosenqvist and last year's winner Sebastien Buemi (Renault e.dams) switched places, with Rosenqvist taking the lead in the championship for the first time in his FIA Formula E career.

TECHEETAH's Andre Lotterer started the race at the back of the grid after receiving being disqualified from Qualifying for missing the weighbridge.

With the lights green, a relatively clean Turn 1 followed, proving problematic only for DS Virgin Racing's Alex Lynn, who spun into the runoff area after Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler's Daniel Abt collided with him.

Quick to serve justice to the German driver, Abt served a drive-through penalty, pushing him down the rankings.

Coming into Turn 7, Lotterer spun Renault e.dams Nico Prost, sending him to the back of the pack.

But it wasn't until the last few laps that the final results became clear as last year's leader - Sebastien Buemi, who'd led the race for 29 laps - was taken on the inside of Turn 7 by last year's pole sitter Felix Rosenqvist, after pulling off a beautifully executed manoeuvre.

Just moments from the end, a multi-car smash on Turn 10 involving teammates Maro Engel and Mortara as well as Mahindra Racing's Nick Heidfeld meant all three made it across the line with damaged cars.

"Last year was the point where we learnt what we needed to do to and this year we did it," said Rosenqvist - the new championship leader - after rounding off a celebratory doughnut off the track.

Marrakesh E-Prix provisional results

1 - Felix Rosenqvist 
2 - Sebastien Buemi 
3 - Sam Bird 
4 - Nelson Piquet Jn. 
5 - Jean-Eric Vergne 
6 - Jose Maria Lopez 
7 - Maro Engel 
8 - Nick Hiedfeld 
9 - Tom Blomqvist
10 - Nico Prost 
11 - Alex Lynn 
12 - Daniel Abt 
13 - Mitch Evans 
14 - Antonio Felix da Costa 
15 - Jerome D'Ambrosio 
16 - Luca Filippi 
17 - Edorardo Mortara 
18 - Oliver Turvey - DNF
19 - Andre Lotterer - DNF
20 - Lucas di Grassi - DNF

 

         

 

 

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