Formula E Marrakech E-Prix

RasputinLives

No passing through my dirty air please
Contributor
Wouldn't you know we're riding on the Marrakech Express? Oh and its running on electric! Yes Formula E comes to North Africa and takes up residency on the street circuit in Morroco that has been well trodden by the WTCC since 2009 (and Auto GP if you know what that is. Narain Karthikeyan holds the lap record don't you know). The layout has been changed slightly but all the same elements are there and its always looked quite fun. Speaking of fun, it was certainly a pretty good kick off for Formula E 3 in Hong Kong. We looked like we were going to get everything mixed up but then some smarty smarty tactics from the old guard of Buemi/EDAMS and Di Grassi/Abt put them right back out the front. One thing it did show though is that EDAMS do not have the advantage they did last year and we might see someone else coming to the front.

You still wouldn't bet against Buemi though, the Moose has been on form for quite a while now and seems to be able to mange his power saving better than anyone else in the field. His arch-rival Di Grassi is similar and you get the sense that there is still needle between the two after London last year and it could all flare up quite easily. As per the last two season Sam Bird is mighty fast and has mighty potential but appears to find calamity 50% of the time. There has not really been too much time to judge his Citeron DS Virgin team mate Jose Marie Lopez as of yet but he appeared to be closer than Vergne was last season. Speaking of Vergne he has been making big noises about getting the set up right in the new Renault powered Techeetah and being able to compete at the front, Jean-Eric has promised lots in the last years and delivered little but maybe now is the time. Dragon Racing have a new partner in Faraday Future but didn't seem to have the same umphh as last year, they have a very strong driver line up in Duval and D'ambrosio but they do also seem to end up on the same piece of road. Mahindra look much improved (much like most teams who get rid of Bruno Senna) and I think Rosenquist is really going to come through. The Andretti line up of Felix Da Costa and Frinjs is always where the fun is at so expect sparks there. I don't expect Jaguar to challenge just yet but it is great to see them out there racing.

The last team I'm going to mention is Nextev, who, after shedding the heavy twin motor in the summer, had a return to form and got a lock out front row in Hong Kong. Safety Cars meant they didn't get the results they showed potential of but they look like they are back. Unfortunately the team has been hit with the sad death of its team boss Dr Martin Leach last week. Leach had spells in the top role at Mazda, Maserati and LDV, he was only 59 years old and was a well liked man in the Formula E paddock. Its not very often I cheer on Nelson Piquet Jr but I think I probably will this weekend (although I'll prob be cheering on Turvey slightly harder) as it would be fitting to see them take a win.

Away from the racing there has been a quiet little storm brewing in the Formula E world. It has been confirmed this week that Formula E's big final double header round at its brand spanking new exciting New York street race will clash with the WEC round at the Hockenheimring. With a lot of drivers doing both series it creates a serious dilemma for some of the drivers and will diminish both series. So why oh why are the FIA letting this happen? Well WEC cannot move the date forward due to shipping for Mexico and attempted to move it back one week to the 23rd of July, however Hockenheim refused to do this. Why? Well, whilst not being confirmed, Hockenheim is expecting a German Grand Prix on this weekend. This would be the first time a Grand Prix would run there 2 years running since 2006. Now I don't want to put my tin foil hat on here but this stinks of Mr Ecclestone. Bernie is notorious for 'protecting his brand' (dirty tricks to you and me) against what he views as rival series. He did it with Indie Cars in the 90's, he did it with Le Mans this year and he did it with Formula E in London this year. It appears by putting the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim on the 23rd of July he is going to be able dent both WEC and Formula E in one fell swoop. Given that Bernie has been trying to secure a New York street race for years and Formula E has managed it I'm sure there is a fair bit of malice with it. If only there was some sort of governing body to stop this sort of thing!

For the techy and not so techy of you out there I recently found an article about how the generators that charges the Formula E cars runs on glycerine. Apparently glycerine is clean burning and lowers the carbon footprint even further (thats how my limit brain understands it). Article is here:

Formula E Uses Recharging Generators That Run On Glycerine

Anyways are we exciting for round 2? We better make the most of it though as there is a big gap between this and the next one!
 
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Here's the circuit - it's just under 3km long.

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Did my bit for the Jaguar team at work today. All I had to do was show one of the PR team that I'd voted for one of the drivers and I got a free Jaguar Formula E team branded drinks bottle. They've set up information stations around the business to encourage people to join in. All good fun.
 
He prob needs the help going up against Mitch Evans. I think both are pretty quality adds to the field though.

There are not many pay drivers in Formula E. I think it's a very strong field driver wise.
 
So
Felix Rosenqvist
takes pole in the Super Pole shoot out whilst the fastest guy in the qualie sessions
Jean-Eric Vergne
missed his run as the team sent him out too late to run his lap. Someone in the Techeetah team is going to be introduced to the arse kicking machine.
 
Interesting race without being the most exciting we've seen. Track was OK. Turn 7 waa pretty good.

Buemi has so much confidence right now, he really is in a big purple patch right now. Can't help but be impressed by Felix Rosenquist though. He was only undone by tactics rather than pace in the end and as it's only his second race you can sort of forgive that.

Abt have got to be worried about their performance this weekend and Dragon look nowhere! what the Bally flip was going on with Duval?!
 
I enjoyed it, the longer straights seemed to offer more chances for overtaking. Rosenqvist looks like a real talent, Buemi was his normal mooseness, what was going on with JEV? Missed the pole shoot out and then speeding in the pit lane. Sam Bird had a good race as well.
 
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