Formula E at Long Beach
FORMULA E at LONG BEACH – It is the sixth race of a completely new formula series, an FIA race sponsored by electric car called Formula E. In the five races so far, from Beijing to Buenos Aires, e.dams Renault team lead with 110 points, well ahead of the next runner up Audi Sport ABT 79 points.
This day’s race in Long Beach, California, mark the start of the second half of the season, starting number six, followed by Monte Carlo and finally ends in London. After the race, the drivers at the track in Long Beach will speak how the track is the fastest in the series so far, a Grand Prix track that has seen the Indycar and Nascar races, Similar to the Grand Prix circuit in Monaco, a number of downtown streets form the Long Beach track. On weekdays, workers and vacationers pilot these roads, but this time, 20 of the best drivers in the world are trying to keep their positions or change their luck in Formula E series.
All the trappings of an international Formula E race series are here. We have teams and drivers from around the world. Each team has a crew of racing technicians who service and maintain the car. At the end of the day, three drivers will be on the podium, holding high trophies and spraying champagne on the crowd.
However, the purist might scoff at Formula E, pointing out that the race only last an hour, and that the drivers get to move into a completely new car halfway through. The cars have a limited maximum speed of 140 mph with the engine performance to 202.5 hp. Then there FanBoost, a unique feature of the formula E where the three drivers who get most social media love #FanBoost obtained an additional 40.5 PS they can apply during the race for 5 seconds.
All these seem to makes formula E a lesser event than other Formula races.
Nevertheless, standing near the track, as the cars flash by, and you can see the dynamics, feel the thundering power as the drivers’ race down a straight. When the driver brakes before a curve, the whine of the engines Pop in a lowering bass as the drivers work the five-speed transmission in their cars.
After the race, China Racing driver Nelson Piquet pointed out some of the challenges of driving Formula E. Together with the handling of turns, jockeying for position, trying not to get behind, the driver must also observe the temperature and charge states of their batteries. Audi Sport ABT driver Lucas di Grassi had experience a fire from the auxiliary battery pack in his car in a previous race.
For the first season in Formula E, all the teams raced with the same type of car, the spark SRT_01e, an open-wheel single-seater made by Renault and a company called Spark. This car is similar to the aerodynamics and engineering to F1 cars, but instead of a gasoline engine, it makes the use of an all-electric power train. Formula E rules restrict drivers to only 56-kilowatt hours of electricity during the race, not counting what can be gained by regenerative braking. For future seasons, Formula E plans for the creation of opportunities for the teams to tune their cars, which in turn could lead to advance in battery and fuel engine technology, but for now, the formula E is a single spec race.
For now, it all depends on the skill of the driver.
Each round of the 1:32 mile long beach course lasts just under one minute. At the end of the starting straight, a chicane makes up turn 1 and turn 2. Another straight follows, ending in turn 3, a hard right. Another straight up Pine Street and another hard right straight long back where drivers can maximize their speed. Turn 5 is a hard right turn 6 is a sweeper, then drivers are thrown a hairpin at Turn 7 and its back to the main straight.
After grabbing an early lead, Nelson Piquet would come out as the winners of the 39 laps Formula E Long Beach race, followed by Andretti driver Jean-Eric Vergne in the second and di Grassi in third. However, scores total would put di Grassi as the overall leader for the season with 75, followed by Piquet with 74 points.
Formula E at Long Beach
