Formula E Round 2 at Putrajaya is on today
If you hurry, up you might just make it to the Formula E-prix, which starts with the gates opening to the public at 0630 hours. Free practice will commence at 0900 hrs, and the actual race starts at 1404 hrs.
The e-prix in Putrajaya is the second of a ten round championship sanctioned by FIA; the first was held in Beijing on 13 September, and will continue until June 2015.
There are a total of 10 teams participating in the Formula E championship 2014/2015, and the ten races will be held in ten cities around the world. Each team will consist of two drivers and four cars, and each circuit is between 2.5 to 3.0 kilometres long.
The cars are all powered purely by electricity through batteries, and can accelerate from zero to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 3 seconds, with a maximum speed of 220 km/h. As electric cars are very silent, the noise level from a race car in full blown race speed is around 80 decibels. As a comparison, an ordinary car emits around 70 decibels; a bus emits 90 decibels, while a V10 formula 1 car on a race track emits around 130 decibels.
All Formula E races are run within a single day, with free practice and qualifying in the morning, followed by a 2 hour break for re-charging the cars. The race will follow in the afternoon; each race will have a mandatory pit stop, and instead of refuelling, the driver switches to a new and fully charged car when his battery runs low on the first car – this format and timing will be used for all of the 10 races in the formula. Races are approximately 45 minutes in length.
For the 2014/2015 season, all teams will be driving an electric race car supplied by one supplier. The car is the Spark-Renault SRT 01E. This race car has a chassis built and supplied by Dallara, with an electric motor developed by McLaren. The battery system is a creation by Williams F1, while the transmission is a 5-speed box supplied by Hewland, a renowned gearbox maker. Michelin is the official tyre supplier for this year’s championship.
Championship points are awarded following the F1 point system. Leading the championship is Lucas Di Grassi, who won the inaugural round in Beijing in September, after Nick Heidfeld and Nicholas Prost crashed out in the final corner.
Renault, as the official founding and technical partner of the FIA Formula E Championship, is in the forefront of development of electric vehicles, is the title sponsor of the E.Adams-Renault Team, which will be participating in all of the rounds. Liveried in blue, the team has engaged two well-known drivers, 33-year old Nicholas Prost, the son of 4-time F1 World Champion Alain Prost, and 26-year old Sebastian Buemi, who started his racing career at the age of 15, drove for the Red Bull Toro Rosso in 2007, and is now test driving for the Red Bull F1 Team.
