South African racing enthusiasts did not follow Formula E for nine years due to a lack of local participation in the all-electric series. As we will now demonstrate, there are suddenly numerous reasons to watch Formula E in 2023.
Correct, South African motorsports legend Kelvin van der Linde was pulled in as a last-minute substitute for ABT Cupra driver Robin Frijns after he was eliminated in the opening weekend due to a catastrophic incident. Unbelievably, this is the DTM driver’s debut in a single-seater series.
Nissan Formula E Team placed in the points at the Diriyah E-Prix.
The South African ace, a self-proclaimed GT3 master, will face a steep learning curve, but he has already shown promise in his debut Formula E outing in Saudi Arabia, where he outperformed his ABT Cupra colleague Nico Muller in qualifying and the races over a double-header weekend.
Let’s be honest, Formula E’s real on-track racing has been somewhat dull up until now. Principal difficulties include the near-silent cars, a general lack of speed and spectacle, and no overtaking in the races, with cars remaining in single file for the most of the race to conserve energy.
Formula E has introduced less-grippy Hankook tires with the same tread pattern as road tires in 2023. These shriek as the electric racers turn corners, and you can see the vehicles moving and shimmying across the circuit.
Less stability for the drivers, greater thrills for us!
Formula E refers to it as the Gen3 vehicle, and it will debut in 2023. When the all-electric race series debuted in 2014, the first-generation cars couldn’t even complete a full race, so drivers had to “pit” and switch cars halfway through. Those days are long gone due to the ongoing development of electric batteries.
The output of the electric motors has increased from 250kW to 350kW, including a 250kW motor at the front of the chassis that is used entirely for energy regeneration (40 percent of the energy used during a race is recovered), for a total system output of 600kW. Giddy up.
South Africa is once again scheduled to host an FIA-sanctioned event. Unfortunately, it’s not Formula 1 at Kyalami (that’s a story for another day), but motorsport and sports lovers should be enthusiastic about the Cape Town E-Prix.
Formula E’s organizers know how to put on a show, and in addition to the race beneath Signal Hill and through Mouille Point, there will be fan zones, live music, entertainment, and a conference on becoming green. Learn more and purchase tickets at capetowneprix.com.
»Four reasons to watch the Formula E series«