Formula E Series

Andretti Autosport announced Wednesday it has signed on as the third team to compete in the environmentally friendly FIA Formula E championship, which will feature electric cars racing in 10 cities around the world beginning in 2014.

Michael Andretti's two-car operation will join China Racing and British-based Drayson Racing as organizations already committed to a field that will have 10 two-car teams competing in each e-Prix.

"We're in the business of racing and we've been looking for opportunities to diversify, and when we were contacted about this we felt it was something we needed to look into," Andretti told The Associated Press. "The more we looked into it, the more interested we got. We like the relevancy of the series because one of the problems auto racing is starting to face — and is going to face more of in the future — is relevancy.

"I think relevancy is going to be addressed with the electric cars. It's a good way to hook our younger audience into racing, and I'm excited to be involved and be involved at the ground floor."

Andretti plans to run one car for the championship, while his second entry could be a "star car" that uses well-known drivers such as IndyCar reigning champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti or James Hinchcliffe based on their availability.

The races will be held September 2014 to June 2015 for a "winter season" on street courses that run through the heart of major cities around the world. Alejandro Agag, CEO of series promoter FEH, said there will be stops in Miami and Los Angeles on the 10-race schedule, making it important to have Andretti involved in the series debut.

"Andretti is a great name in motorsport, and when we launched the championship, we said we wanted to have a geographically diversified grid and for us, the U.S and China are our two key markets in the world," Agag told the AP. "In the U.S., we really need a strong team to lead the way and we think there is no better name than that for America that Andretti. And globally because it's very American, but at the same time it's a world-known name.

"Everybody knows Andretti everywhere, so for us it was really a priority to speak with Andretti and invite them into the championship."

Andretti Autosport currently fields four IndyCar entries, and cars in Indy Lights, the Pro Mazda Championship and in the USF2000 National Championship. The team has won four IndyCar championships, to Lights titles, one USF2000 championship and its drivers have won two Indianapolis 500s.

Michael Andretti raced more than 20 years in CART and Formula One, winning 42 CART races, which ranks third in American open-wheel history. His father, Mario Andretti, ranks second with 52 victories.

In Formula E, teams will have two drivers and four series-provided single-seater electric cars in the first season. Renault has signed on as the car manufacturer, but Agag said series officials expect three to five manufacturers in the second season based on current conversations. Michelin is the tire supplier.

"A lot of the sponsors are saying we are looking for something that is going to tick the box on sustainability, and we're finding many big corporations are saying they need to go toward sustainability in sponsorship," Agag said of interest in the series.

The car batteries will last up to 25 minutes at a time, so drivers will have to switch cars during the race while their batteries recharge. The driver will enter the pits, then get out of the car and run 100 meters to get into the freshly charged car.

The cars will be based in England with teams arriving at the venues in advance of the race to prepare the cars for competition.

In an effort to keep costs down — Agag said the operating budget for a season is $3.5 million, money Andretti is seeking to cover through sponsorship — very little development will be allowed on the cars.

"They don't want to have a whole lot of development in the actual car, they want the development to go into the electric technology," Andretti said. "They are really going to control that side of it with the rules that you can't do a lot to the cars."

The final calendar for the debut season will be presented to the FIA in September for approval and also has planned stops in London, Rome, Beijing, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Putrajaya, Bangkok and Berlin. Agag said the races will be around major city landmarks, and the events will be stand-alone and not held in conjunction with any other series.

"The main point is to be fully sustainable with zero emissions, so if you bring in combustion cars you are destroying that message," Agag said.


Racing without the sound, can't see it. I might watch if no other races are happening, we'll see.

 

Told you!

BHW

 

Ohhhh Boy!!!! Just what the world needs......more 'spec" racing!!!

 

Actually, two chassis manufactures have committed to Formula E, Dallara and Bluebird,
with Drayson indicating he may produce a chassis as well.

Other involvements include Renault, TAG Heuer, Spark Racing Technologies and
McLaren.

The lack of noise is attractive to the city venues as noise ordinances have gotten more
strict over the years making it virtually impossible for traditional racing to take place
in cities like Miami.

BHW

 

Recall that Monza and Spa have had noise complaint issues in recent years.

 

Lets see what their economies do when racing pulls out due to the "noise" over just a weekend. It's not like they're racing 24/7 there. Ridiculous / PC.

 

Downtown West Palm Beach and the Tampa Fairgrounds come to mind as venues which lost
IMSA GTP dates due to noise ordinances.

The planned track between Ocala and Daytona, Lightning Ridge Motorsports Park never
got off the ground because the locals (the closest of which lived eight miles from the
proposed track site) bolstered by Daytona International Speedway rose up and blocked
construction of the track due to perceived noise issues.

BHW

 

Wrong, motor racing can exists without noise: engines can be silenced - the technology exists already.

Unless the racing fraternity gets serious and addresses the problem, the long term survival of the sport is in jeopardy.

Already several tracks in UK alone are under threat for lack of effort to curtail noise pollution; their owners put their head in the sand and refuse to imposed a noise limit acceptable to the community around the venues.

Brooklands had imposed silencers in the 30s already, and the spectacle didn't suffer.
To ensure the continuation of Hillclimbs in UK, silencers have been imposed successfully.

But the problem exists in many countries, and several tracks will be closed down unless the noise factor is taken seriously.

Noise pollution and the damage it can cause are not to be under-estimated.
Ignore the threat of a ban at your peril.

Electric cars could be the answer.

 

I think people in the stands like the noise though...

IMHO, if you move into an area with a race track, or airport, uhhh, that was your call.

 

The people in the stand usually don't live near the track, I would say!.

The problem is that tracks have often incresed the number of days of use, and what used to be an annoyance every 2 weeks becomes almost a daily burden.

Tracks have to organise more race meetings, more test days, more tracks days and open driving schools to balance the books.

But what I cannot understand is why the sporting authorities don't bother to restrict engine noise; it's the ostrich policy to bury its head in the sand not to see the danger.

 

Well, Formula E just signed with Fox to broadcast their races for the fall of 2014.
It'll be interesting to see how the fans react to the silence. Then on the other hand, kids don't even want to get licenses any more, so it won't matter.

 

Well, like the NFL pumps in crowd noise, maybe they can superimpose car noises...or if the budget isn't enough for that, maybe the announcers can make the sounds:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRMpi1esjoQ]funny car video - YouTube[/ame]

These are actually pretty good!

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyMjgHmqWew]amazing mouth car sounds - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRGEXiYvk_Q]human car sounds - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9T-vgtcpN0]Amazing car sounds by mouth! - YouTube[/ame]

 

With Lucas di Grassi driving.

Dosen't sound so different than the Toyota WEC car.

Formula E electric single-seater completes first track test - Other news - AUTOSPORT.com

 

Formula E wil appeal to the younger club crowd as they might try to lick the cars whenever Jaime Alguersari (sp?) or Laurent Aiello show up to DJ. Imagine what crowd Formula K would attract...

...a rabid horde of pentastar econo car worshippers who have spotted Lee Iaccoca at Walmart and Deny's.

 

Electric sound is nasty. This doesn't have a chance IMHO.

 

I agree. I heard that on some electric road cars, for safety, they're piping in some noise.

 

Formula E teams committed so far…

Drayson Racing
China Racing
Andretti Autosport
Dragon Racing
e.dams
Super Aguri
Audi Sport Abt
Mahindra Racing
Virgin Racing
Venturi Grand Prix

The sound, here is what the Toyota LMP-1 hybrid sounds like exiting the
pits:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auIVUCA1J1E]Toyota TS030 HYBRID - On-board (pit exit and track) - YouTube[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RjfhAFOhp4]Toyota Hybrid LM P1 car leaving pits - YouTube[/ame]

Paul Drayson sets the world speed record for an electric powered car:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxKdUIEECN8]204.185mph in an electric car - a new world land speed record - autocar.co.uk - YouTube[/ame]

BHW

 

Formula E debuts in Las Vegas | News | Motorsport.com

BHW

 

Races in Miami? I'll go check it out of curiosity. Any schedules out yet?

 

The Formula E event in Miami is scheduled to take place March 13-15, 2015
Traditionally, the same weekend as Amelia Island and a week before Sebring.

The circuit will utilize the original downtown Bicentennial Park layout.

BHW

 

Top drivers commit to Formula E.

Ex-Formula 1 drivers and IndyCar stars chasing Formula E seats - Other news - AUTOSPORT.com

BHW

 

I'm not a fan of the sound- or lack there of, but a series like this was bound to happen.

Is neat seeing the progression of propulsion systems.
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I will boycott this and I will also boycott every sponsor who give them money