Formula E is always an important source of information and the Diriyah E-Prix was not the exception, between returning races and global geopolitical problems…
Here is a summary of some of the voices that can be heard in the pit lane, the pit garages, the Media Centre and even in the toilets, like in the best spy films…
Last time in Diriyah?
The ancient city of Diriyah, very close to the circuit where Formula E races, is a UNESCO world heritage site and a destination for an important tourist flow. The staging of the Formula E races would create problems for managing tourism on the one hand and the entire organizational machine on the other, which sees workers busy for several months.
For this reason, a move of Formula E to another location in Saudi Arabia is being studied. According to what we have heard, the new scenario should not be very far from Diriyah, but in an area where it would create fewer logistical problems. Will it be in Riyadh?
Further developments from Hankook for Season 11 with Gen3.5
Present in Diriyah was Mrs. Sujin Jang, Chief Engineer of Formula E Tire Development. We spoke with her and she confirmed that there will be further development of Hankook tires for season 11 when the Gen3.5 cars will be used. This development should be in the tire materials, but no mention was made of any wet tyres.
In the fast charging tests that we saw both in Valencia and Mexico City, in many cases tire changes were tried immediately after finishing fast charging, which consists of 4 kWh in 30 seconds. Will it be the next move to shuffle the cards in the race, leaving Attack Mode aside?
Is Jakarta returning with a night race?
The political elections that took place in Indonesia left a bad taste in the mouth of Formula E, which was unable to include the Indonesian capital in this season’s calendar. Now it is said that next year Formula E would return to racing in Jakarta, in the same location as the last two seasons.
Formula E would shoulder the overall expense and among other things that the wind from the pits brought to the Long Ear of Electric Motor News is that the race could be held at night.
Same batteries for Gen 3.5
The batteries of the Gen 3.5 Formula E cars should remain unchanged from those currently used. Regardless of the technical-sporting aspects of this, this news is very important as regards logistics because any modification of a battery involves new checks by international transport bodies, with infinite bureaucratic delays.
Thus, according to what we learned in Diriyah, the batteries of the Gen 3.5 should remain unchanged and those that will obviously be different are those of the Gen4.
Nico Müller and Lucas di Grassi in dune buggy for the first time
A new experience for the two circuit racing aces Nico Müller and Lucas di Grassi: before the two races in Diriyah, the Formula E drivers tried out an off-road buggy just outside the city. It was a first for both of them, which was fun and left them wanting more.
When the geopolitical situation complicates your life
The staff of the Romagna company DZ Engineering broke out in a cold sweat when they learned that due to the well-known geopolitical problems in the Suez Canal, the loading of materials by ship would have to avoid the passage through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.
The moral of the history is that the material arrived on Sunday before the race, just about a week ago. So the Romagna company first prepared all the pylons and set up everything it could with the material arrived from another departure port, while it doubled its efforts and work teams to set up everything in good time. At the time of Race 1 everything was in order and as usual the lighting was up to the task of the event.
Updates on the Lola-Yamaha team
The publication on EMN of Team Lola-Yamaha’s possible entry into Formula E did not go unnoticed and someone commented on the article. In Diriyah, the Long Ear of Electric Motor News heard another piece of news that adds a piece to this panorama. Basically, Team Lola Cars would have already signed up to participate in Formula E, even if we were not able to understand whether it will use the license that belonged to the Techeetah team and which remains on stand-by or whether it will purchase the license of some other team that currently participates in the electric single-seater world championship. And as we suspected, without having said it, the name of the team’s Team Principal is now also being mentioned: a certain Mark Preston, already winner of two Formula E titles.
“One Republic” and “Backstreet Boys” perform for the fans
When the chequered flag drops, the action in Diriyah is far from over for the fans: Formula E has managed to secure two major acts for the post-event show: yesterday night after the race performed the “One Republic” and the “Backstreet Boys” on Saturday night – on the same gigantic stage where the trophies will be presented earlier.
#MarceloPadin #theEMNteam
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