2014-2015 PRESEASON GUIDE AUGUST 2014 John Pearson, CEO, DHL Express Europe Motor racing has always been about more than the on-track antics of drivers going very fast in exotic machinery. It is engineering innovation that underpins winning campaigns and which spills across into road cars, making everyday vehicles safer, faster and Ross Ringham Editor IT ALL STARTS HERE WORDS ROSS RINGHAM DESIGN NAOMI PANTER PHOTOGRAPHY SHIVRAJ GOHIL Printed using vegetable oil inks on 100% recycled paper. www.current-e.com WHAT IS FORMULA E? The all-electric racing series is still in development, but Formula E is largely the vision of charismatic here’s how it’s likely to work / / / Spanish businessman Alejandro Agag. take place on temporary street circuits. At each venue, practice, qualifying and the race itself will all run on a single day. Hello, super Saturday. The www.current-e.com COMPONENTS Consortium lead: Technical oversight: Chassis: 30 Motor generator unit: KWH Batteries: Motor control unit (inverter): Transmission: ECU: 3 SECS MGU Dampers: Wheels: Brakes: TOP SPEED BATTERY 0-100KM/H Tyres: CAPACITY TECHNICAL DATA Battery capacity: Formula E may be a “spec” series and the wheeled Battery weight: Power: racing machines may be recognisable Chassis: as cars, but make no mistake – Transmission: Drive: Tyres: Brakes: THE CAR designed and built under a consortium called Spark Racing Technology, which is essentially staffed by the well-respected French racing team ART and advised by car maker Renault. The consortium partners are an impressive bunch and include McLaren, Williams, Dallara and Michelin. (Check out current-e.com for a full explanation of electric car terminology.) Illustration Craig Scarborough www.current-e.com Organisers and teams alike are keen to stress that this series isn’t just F1 or GP2 running on electric power – www.current-e.com A global series needs a global fanbase, and Formula E has made great strides in that direction with THE TEAMS Andretti Autosport Audi Sport ABT Dragon Racing e.dams-Renault Mahindra Racing Clockwise from above: Amlin Aguri Mahindra Racing; Audi Sport ABT; Team China Racing Andretti Autosport; Dragon Racing; TrulliGP e.dams-Renault; Jarno Trulli of TrulliGP. Venturi GP Virgin Racing ELECTRIC ACES www.current-e.com Clockwise from far left: Sam Bird; Bruno Senna and Lucas di Grassi; Daniel Abt; Franck Montagny; Michela Cerruti; Katherine Legge. Katherine Legge will line up in the gleaming Blue Samurai of Amlin Aguri, and Italian Michela Cerruti wears the white, blue and green of Trullip GP. Antonio Felix da Costa Katherine Legge Franck Montagny Daniel Abt Lucas di Grassi Some of the fastest and most experienced Mike Conway Jerome d’Ambrosio drivers of a generation will compete in identical Sebastien Buemi Nico Prost Karun Chandhok machinery around tough street circuits in a bid to Bruno Senna Michela Cerruti Jarno Trulli Nick Heidfeld Stephane Sarrazin Sam Bird Jaime Alguersuari www.current-e.com Formula E will be piped into every corner of the earth by a raft of gargantuan television other countries), ITV (in the UK), TV Asahi (Japan) TV TEAM Nicki Shields @Nickishields Robert Llewellyn @bobbyllew Jack Nicholls @Jack_Nicholls Dario Franchitti @dariofranchitti Get used to these faces – Clockwise from left: www.current-e.com Borrowing a spanner certainly won’t be an issue The whole Formula E Park, the venerable circuit located in the UK’s family has set up shop East Midlands region. HOME current-e.com @current_e 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 .