Formula E Buenos Aires ePrix Race Discussion

[teabagyokel]

A test day, Christmas and a month separate rounds three and four of the Formula E Championship, and it is moving from Punta del Este up the River Plate to Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. And it is another coastal event out to the east of the city, at Puerto Madero.

Initial impressions would suggest that the circuit looks closer to Albert Park than the Sochi-lite in Beijing and the other two Singapore-esque circuits. The pit lane is in a funky layout, which should be irrelevant should the drivers respect the minimum time (Nick).

The championship sees a comfortable lead for the man who has appeared on all Formula E podiums, Lucas di Grassi, over the SBs - Sam Bird and Seb Buemi. Di Grassi's Abt has been by far more consistent than his team-mate's version, with Mr. Abt Jr. scoring only two 10th place finishes in the first two, beset by penalties and problems.

eDAMS have been quick, with Prost especially rapid in quali trim, and they lead the Teams' Championship from Abt by a squeaky 2 points. All 10 teams have scored points - Dragon are the only team to score points with both drivers in both races, which has helped them beat Andretti's myriad drivers for 4th in the Championship.

Venturi are bottom of the Teams' ranking, with the gamble that paid off so spectacularly in Beijing failing conspicuously in Punta del Este, where China Racing's second position is their best result of the season by far. Only Amlin Aguri haven't really had moments of competitiveness.

It seems unwise to predict who'll be in the cars in Argentina - Andretti in particular seem keen to run half of France - but we can only hope Formula E continues to win over the doubters with exciting, interesting and changeable racing, even if the speed is unlikely to blow anyone away!

 

[Dash Racing]

Looking at the circuit guide on the Formula E site, there seem to be a lot of good places for overtaking opportunities, with the hairpin at turn 5 apparently being quite a wide section of track. Turns 1 & 2, at the end of a good long straight stretch ripe for Fan Boost use, offer a bit of inside-outside action, with an opportunity for the last of the late-brakers to get the jump if they can hold the outside line until turn 2, where they'll get the inside line. The run down from turn 3 to turn 4 might be a good Fan Boost spot too, I think? I suspect we'll see a lot of jockeying for position at turns 4, 5, 6 and 7 - I expect the pack to get shuffled frequently in this segment of the track. I'm less excited about turns 10, 11 and 12 - they're high speed corners that they'll need to get right to really get a good run along the start/finish straight, but other than that I just don't think they'll be that interesting.

 

[RasputinLives]

Just a pointer on Di Grassi's championship lead. Whilst it looks pretty large if you take in the factor that each driver will drop their worst result from the championship standings then Di Grassi only leads Bird and Buemi by 3 points. He does have the advanatge of knowing that he can afford to have a no score or a bad day whilst his rivals can't though.

Whilst E-Dams has been the quickest car in the field you have to say that the Andretti car is in pretty good shape if only they could get the right guy to drive it. JEV appeared to be there man but I haven't seen it confirmed that he will be compeating for the rest of the Formula E season yet. Alex Brundle certainly suggested he would be but lets wait and see. I hope we see Matty Brabham again but think we'll probably get Frank Montangy.

The other front running teams - EDams, Virgin, Abt, appear to have a stable line up and I do expect it to be between them although Venturi (The electirc car experts) must be tearing their hair out at getting no results.

Just another point. The man who would be god, Jamie Alguersauri, has been very low key in this series this far and not hit it with the same bang as he hits the media whilst other Red Bull rejects like JEV and Buemi have grabbed the headlines.

 

[teabagyokel]

Venturi have probably lost their chance to win this title, but I suspect they and Heidfeld will get it right at one point this season. They were so close to winning Beijing!

 

[FB]

Still think they should drop the minimum pit stop time thingy.

 

[RasputinLives]

I agree FB but I think they are sticking with the safety aspect. I think it will all change next year as they'll bring in wireless charging where they'll either pull into a garage and have a 'pad' to park on why they'll charge or they'll have a 'charging road' as the pitlane they have to drive down slowly.

That appears to be the way the technology is going. The Trulli team reckon they can wireless charge already.

 

[cider_and_toast]

All they need to do then is add drive over weapons activation systems and we've got ourselves a real "Death Race" thing going down. Now that I would pay to watch.

 

[Road of Bones]

cider_and_toast - Wipeout 2015?

 

[The Pits]

All they need to do then is add drive over weapons activation systems and we've got ourselves a real "Death Race" thing going down. Now that I would pay to watch.

And sign Maldonado...

 

[RasputinLives]

So the Formula E school series kicks off in Argentina as an official support race. Basically kids from local schools build electric cars and will then race each other.

http://www.electricautosport.com/2014/12/formula-e-school-series-launch-buenos-aires/

Interesting concept.

 

[Westy]

Very cool idea.

 

[Dash Racing]

I know Formula Student and Formula SAE offer similar opportunities for college students, but it's cool that they're starting it for electric cars, it might bring a lot of new innovations to electric cars.

 

[RasputinLives]

Looks like Team China might be shipping in a local boy driver for the Argentina race.

http://www.electricautosport.com/2014/12/tickets-formula-e-buenos-aires-eprix-sale-cheering-local/

Esteban Guerrieri is the chap. Seems to have been fairly succesful in WSR and Indy Lights. I don't know too much about him but he at least seems to have some credentials.

 

[FB]

Here's the reason why Franck Montagny missed out on the last race, he got caught powdering his nose from the inside.

http://www.motorsport.com/formula-e/news/franck-montagny-tests-positive-for-cocaine

 

[cider_and_toast]

Fucking stupid idiot. Bye Franck

 

[Mephistopheles]

Nose candy, what a numpty...

 

[gethinceri]

Blow blows his career.

 

[RasputinLives]

No wonder he spent the Malaysian race bashing into Nick Heidfield - he probably thought he was invincible.

Meanwhile Formula E has confirmed and revealed plans for its second season:

http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1096103_season-two-for-formula-e-championship-confirmed

Teams won't be able to build their own cars but will be able to build their own powertrains. Which in old money means the chassie for everyone will be a Renault Spark but they can shove whatever 'engine' they like in it.

Interesting that they have more manufacturers wanting to sign up. In a time when people are jumping the F1 ship they seems to be clamouring to get in on the Formula E boat. I'm not naive enough to think its because of the exciting racing so it has to be down to the small amount it costs and the good PR it brings. I'm sure Formula E doesn;t mind though as the more teams they have the bigger the competition and the more attention it gets. Maybe F1 should pay attention

 

[RasputinLives]

Oh and Ho-Pin Tung is back for Team China for this race:

http://www.thecheckeredflag.co.uk/2014/12/china-racings-ho-pin-tung-makes-formula-e-return/

Which begs the question why did they drop him for just one round?

 

[cider_and_toast]

They were Ho-Pin to get more money?

Yeah, I know.... Coat >>>>>