#valenciaeprix

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Así fue la despedida de #valentinorossi #thedoctor46 en #MotoGP #valenciaeprix #46 https://www.instagram.com/p/CWTLju0AekS/?utm_medium=tumblr

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Valencia ePrix Race 2 Review

Today, saw a return to a much more normal Formula E race, with plenty of energy saving, aggressive overtaking, and surprises through the field!

The wet qualifying may have given an incredible opportunity to those in Group 4, but it was Dennis who made the most of his chances, by topping the group, and Superpole. Then, despite the paddocks belief that it would be impossible to win the race by leading most of it, he did just that, driving calmly throughout, taking advantage of others misfortune, to win his first ePrix! This is a well earnt boost for both him and the team, who have had a difficult start to their campaign, and shows the car is very efficient, which could be a valuable aid for the rest of the year! Guenther’s climb from last to nearly be in the points, shows the car is working well, so they may be able to leave the sport on a high!

It is a similar story for Porsche and Lotterer, who had not performed up until now, as they should have really, yet the car ran well, but is still not able to match the big name teams in the sport. Hopefully this can be another building year for them, as they learn and get stronger, as they are still rather new to the sport. For once Andre’s aggression did not ruin his race, as he used it well to climb up to a podium spot!

Lynn probably does not know how to feel about this race, as he should be glad of a podium, his first in Formula E, however he was in prime position to attack Dennis in the closing stages of the race, only for Nato to nerf him off the track, and down to P6, where he fought back up to P3. It is tough to say if he would have won, it would probably have been close, but Jake may have kept it! Mahindra are on the up again, after some years where they lost out to others, and clearly had both pace and efficiency today!

As always with Nissan, the energy saving is what lets them down, although Rowland was climbing through the field well today, and this P4 is a blessing for the team, with the slipstream effect really aiding them. For his teammate it was another difficult day, as he was caught up in a collision with Vandoorne at Turn 10, which you can’t blame Sebastien too much for, as Stoffel was not that far up his inside. The team being down in 11th in the championship, speaks to the competitive nature of the series, however, also suggests that Nissan are almost at a crisis point, if they can’t fix their issues!

Once again Nato has been kicked out of a podium place, although this time it was deservingly so, as the contact with Lynn into Turn 9 was rather clumsy. Either way, P5 is amazing for the team, especially as they had the pace to match the leaders, helped by their powertrain! Mortara also drove well, to salvage some points after his early Group qualifying slot hurt his grid position. I do think it is a matter of time before the team gets a win this year.

Rast is probably the unsung hero of the sport at the moment, as he always gets the most out of the Audi, which isn’t quite where it deserves to be! He is in the title fight, which given he is pretty much a rookie is a huge feat for him! It is a similar story for Di Grassi, who got a point from 22nd on the grid, the focus on efficiency over pace by the team, is really paying off, as it is the race where most of the points are earnt!

The grid may have been mixed up, but the only cars really out of position were the NIO 333 cars, who gradually fell back during the ePrix. Thanks to incidents behind and good strategy, Turvey did manage to grab some points, which must be pleasing for them. At least the car is improving, as the field continues to tighten up year on year!

Jaguar and Mercedes’ day was ruined in qualifying, as the drying track aided later groups, but we did see promising pace from both Vandoorne and Evans, who both reached the points, only for one to crash and the other to fall back for an unknown reason! Jaguar never really had the pace here, so Monaco may give them a chance to bag some points, as we return to a street circuit! Meanwhile Mercedes are the team to beat currently, as they are fast everywhere, as well as having efficiency and strategy sorted out, today was just a blip for them!

To be honest, the first half of the race was almost farcical, as everyone was going so slowly, so it wasn’t really a race! This really shows why the series does not go to well known circuits, and you can’t blame them for it, as this is all new technology.

This weekend has helped to really shake up the championship, and now that we know the rest of the calendar, can anyone begin to establish themselves as the favourites? Most peoples bet would be Mercedes, yet with Jaguar, DS Techeetah and BMW all performing, it is anyone’s game!

-M

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[meaningofmotorsport]

Valencia ePrix Race 1 Review

The end to that race was simply peak Formula E! I don’t really know what else to say, as it left almost the entire grid out of energy!

To clear up what actually happened, in the last two laps, which completely shook up the race, is that most of the teams did not put a safety margin in their strategy if unforeseen circumstances occurred. Some of the team principals said that the energy reduction from the FIA was surprising, and caught them off guard, however I believe it is a fixed amount per minute, so shouldn’t be a surprise at all! All that happened, was that Mercedes were the only ones who saw, that there was a strong chance of a Safety Car occurring late in the race, given that there had already been 4 of them, which could change how the race played out. Whereas DS Cheetah made the biggest mistake, in not telling Da Costa to slow down on the restart, to make sure that there was only one lap to go, not two! You can’t come down too harshly on the other teams, as saving the extra lap would be a waste if it went green all the way, Mercedes were just lucky that their efficiency allowed them to do so.

Continuing with the German marque, they have had a really up and down day, after Vandoorne got the pole position, only to lose it through an admin error, which in my opinion was harsh. In my view, if a break of the regulations has no impact on performance, it should be a team fine, so the racing can go on, but the teams knows not to do it again! Nevertheless, he got back on it for the race, and despite some clashes and off track moments, drove a solid race to the podium, which sort of makes up for qualifying! De Vries also had a stunning drive, clearly the fastest of the top bunch in the race, given he could also save loads of energy, fully deserving of the win, although I wish we had seen a fairer last lap battle, with his fuller battery!

Tough day for DS Techeetah, as Da Costa was controlling the race, able to make perfect restarts every time, looking fairly comfortable, and having one of the faster cars. As I mentioned, his team allowing him to restart early after the last Safety Car, cost most of the grid at the end of the race. However, I am sure they will learn from this, and come back stronger, as we know they are fast, especially in the dry! Vergne had a rather anonymous day, where he should have been more in the mix, it seems that the team can’t get both cars working well at the same time!

Today may have been a fairy-tale for Dragon Penske Autosport, who if we are being honest, got lucky to finish up on the podium, although by saving fuel they allowed themselves to get lucky. The car hasn’t quite had the pace of the front runners, yet it is looking improved for this year, as we saw in Diriyah. Can they keep the momentum as the year continues?

Cassidy and Rast did superbly, to effectively be the first of the ones, who ran out of energy. They seemingly realised their problems much earlier than the others, so backed off to be able to pass them later on. Which is great maturity from two drivers new to the series!

Da Costa and Lynn were able to salvage points from the race, as they coasted round, whereas Rowland and Sims opted to overconsume the battery, and hope to argue their case after the race, which I doubt will work!

The Venturi’s showed promise, with the Mercedes powertrain, yet were unable to convert it, so after and strong start to the season, they have not got much to show for it so far! Meanwhile Dennis must be gutted to be so close to his first points in Formula E, finishing eleventh, he better hope that more is to come from him and the car.

Lotterer and Evans almost made identical clumsy moves into Turn 9, which caused Buemi and Sette Camara to spin. For Evans especially it was unnecessary, as he was coming up through the field quickly, and should have just been patient, as he was ahead of his teammate, who was then championship leader!

Finally, Guenther was a bit of a rolling roadblock today, as the BMW just lacked pace in the wet. After a spirited defence, he ended up losing it under braking, which rather sums up his year really!

Looking at how the track worked for a Formula E race event, it was effective in giving good action, I do feel though that the energy consumption is high, which aided the problems we saw. Obviously, a lot of what we saw in the race was due to the rain, so we can’t judge too much from it, but it suggests that overtaking is possible, which is good to see!

As today was meant to be the drier day of the weekend, I have no idea what we will see tomorrow, but I would definitely be happy to see another wet race, as it was thrilling to watch! Wet or Dry it will likely give us lots of action, so it can’t come soon enough!

-M