Friday July 9, 2021 by Philippe Brasseur
Formula E is presenting two new races this weekend in North America. After Puebla (Mexico) last month, New York City has returned to its traditional E-Prix with the decor of Manhattan buildings in the background. The event, which had not been contested in 2020, will have two races on the program.
Nine manufacturers are present in the series this year, for a total of 12 teams or 24 drivers. Among these teams, the top 10 still have a real chance of winning the title. The gaps are also small on the drivers’ championship side, as Swiss Edoardo Mortara (Venturi Racing) leads with 72 points, 10 more than Robin Frijns (Virgin Racing) and 12 more than 2020 champion Antonio Félix da Costa. (DS Techeetah). On the side of the Nissan e.dams team, the best ranked driver is the Briton Oliver Rowland (9th, photo above) while the Swiss Sébastien Buemi, former champion of the series, occupies only the 22nd place.
After a difficult start to the season, Nissan, which finished 4th in the year of its debut in 2019 and then runner-up last season, is returning to the forefront, as witnessed by Rowland’s 2nd place at Puebla le June 20. As for Buemi, there is no doubt that he will want to take advantage of the New York event to find the top step of the podium.
“We are approaching this New York E-Prix with good momentum after very promising performances in Mexico,” said Tommaso Volpe, Nissan’s world director of motorsport, during a press briefing held yesterday in which Pole-Position took part. “Oliver’s pole position and podium in Puebla gave us confidence that we have the speed and efficiency we need with our new Nissan Gen2 powertrain,” he adds.
Tommaso has described at length this Gen2 powertrain, the result of an ongoing collaboration between technical staff making street cars like the LEAF and those working on the Formula E program. “The progress made in Formula E contributes to the development of our future vehicles. electric road vehicles, ”he emphasizes.
Technically, the car manufacturers’ effort in Formula E is impressive and Nissan is one of them. On the other hand, the management of Formula E still suffers from a lack of professionalism on the part of its organizers. On this subject, Sébastien Buemi was optimistic that the situation is progressing and Tommaso Volpe reminded us that the series has only existed for 7 years: “We must take into consideration that this is a new championship and that the regulations are there. is extremely complex. There is a lot of competition between the teams when it comes to energy management because it is such a big issue and we all strive to enforce the rules in the most efficient way possible. The officials are very responsive to the regulations and the Valencia E-Prix, where many drivers were unable to complete the event, is a good example. We had meetings all together to discuss the course of events and the next day, the rules were changed so that it didn’t happen again ”.
Still according to Tommaso Volpe, there is hope that the sports management of Formula E will improve as the manufacturers involved in the series intend to work with the organizers to simplify the rules. The example of the first of two races in Mexico, where the Porsche and Nissan drivers, who had performed particularly well, were excluded from the results at the exact moment they crossed the finish line because their tires apparently did not been marked by the officials of the event, was not very serious for the series and did not do justice to the investments of the car brands involved. “We have discussed this issue with the organizers of the series and obviously we want it to be handled differently in the future. What is interesting is that all the teams have the same vision and we are discussing with Formula E and the FIA to see how to improve these type of regulations ”he explains, before recalling:“ We all want that FE is becoming one of the most interesting championships, not only for the commercial and technological interest it represents, but also for the sporting side and we are going to get there ”.
Nissan and the other major automotive brands involved in Formula E are participating in this world championship to demonstrate that zero-emission electric vehicles can be spectacular and exciting to watch, not only for the general public but also for enthusiasts. In the case of the Japanese brand, Formula E is aligned with its goal of achieving carbon neutrality in all of its operations and the lifecycle of its products by 2050. To achieve this, Nissan intends to ” electrify its entire vehicle offering by the start of the 2030s in key markets.
Far from one day wanting to take the place of Formula 1, Formula E has found its niche by combining technological challenge and obvious media interest for the companies involved. On the track, the races are often hotly contested and if the penalties and exclusions were not numerous, there is no doubt that the series would attract a much larger audience of motorsport fans.
For Sébastien Buemi, a Formula E event is divided into two distinct moments. First of all, the qualification. “Pure piloting where we don’t have to worry about energy management,” he explains. “Then there is the race. And there it is radically different, it is necessary to integrate a lot of management, to work permanently on all the parameters related to the permitted energy consumption, it is a permanent tactical challenge ”adds Sébastien.
The series’ return to Canada next year in Vancouver will bring even more media attention to the series. “I’ve never been to Vancouver but I remember Montreal in 2017. From my point of view as a driver, it was one of the best organized events that there has been in Formula E,” says Seb Buemi.
The races contested this weekend as part of the New York E-Prix will take place tomorrow at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. These are the 10th and 11th rounds of the 2021 season, which has 15 races in total.
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