Formula E - Am I The Only One Excited?
Discussion
dr_gn said:
Electric bike racing anyone?
No thanks, totally different set of parameters.
Why is it that people are so frightened of all change? "Oh no it isn't what I am used to, we must deride, burn and crush it now!!11!1!"
When we have lost our sport to over regulation and objection it will be these luddites that I will be blaming. We have a chance to stop our sport disappearing yet every new idea that could achieve this ends up with the old guard trying to ensure that it never gets a chance.
In 2004 we saw the first diesel run at Le Mans since 1950. It appeared on a shoestring budget with an engine that was lifted out of a 4x4 not much than a couple of months before the race.
In 2006 Audi won Le Mans with the R10.
Put the pickaxe handles down, store away you hammers and stop being so God damned short sighted. If we do not evolve we die. Maybe you don’t care as it is likely that conventional motorsports will still be around to some degree for another 20-30 years at least, but I want this sport to go on long after my death and I will not let those who endanger that prospect get away without censure and the opportunity to see the error of their selfish and regressive ways.
Perhaps Formula E may not ultimately succeed and if does not it will party be the fault of those who profess to love this sport but try to stifle and deride any change. Yes change can be bad. Look at what that idiot Berger has done to Formula 3*, the true motivation behind which is unknown. But without change we will never improve and will wither and die.
- Destroyed the strongest and most prestigious series in the World for that class in favour of a limping donkey of a Championship that was all but dead and buried. Today the winner of the Euro F3 championship is about as likely to get an F1 drive, without another year in GP2 or FR3.5 as Jason Plato. A few years back around 75% of the F1 grid had started a British F3 race.
Edited by Rude-boy on Friday 28th March 09:56
If you dont find the concept of formula E interesting then your clearly not the target audience. if you do as i do then you might go and see it. The fact is those who are not willing to embrace quieter cars don't realize that in 10 years time their will be so few club races that F1 will suffer from a lack of drivers, and engineers. You cant just wake up and say i'm going to work at mclareen it takes years of hanging round local club circuits to get the experience and prove your any good. A degree in motorsport engineering will get you a job cleaning tires at a event like the Britcar championship. the problem is people are stopping these championships from racing now because of the noise.
Infact in many ways a electric power unit is far better than a standard combustion engine and allows far more torque. Its torque that creates the wheel spin and makes the drivers work hard.
if you think about F1 and its birth in the 1900s people drove with a mechanic in a passenger seat to get out and fix the car. People saying switching cars will never catch on forget the sucess of moto GP and WEC. Formula e will not replace F1, but people will still watch it, its on their doorstep, which 5 year old boy doesnt want to go and see a single seater race?
On top of all this the technology is far more interesting, we have developed the internal combustion engine for a lot longer so to begin with it will obviously be faster but electric engines will catch up
Infact in many ways a electric power unit is far better than a standard combustion engine and allows far more torque. Its torque that creates the wheel spin and makes the drivers work hard.
if you think about F1 and its birth in the 1900s people drove with a mechanic in a passenger seat to get out and fix the car. People saying switching cars will never catch on forget the sucess of moto GP and WEC. Formula e will not replace F1, but people will still watch it, its on their doorstep, which 5 year old boy doesnt want to go and see a single seater race?
On top of all this the technology is far more interesting, we have developed the internal combustion engine for a lot longer so to begin with it will obviously be faster but electric engines will catch up
ellster247 said:
If you dont find the concept of formula E interesting then your clearly not the target audience. if you do as i do then you might go and see it. The fact is those who are not willing to embrace quieter cars don't realize that in 10 years time their will be so few club races that F1 will suffer from a lack of drivers, and engineers. You cant just wake up and say i'm going to work at mclareen it takes years of hanging round local club circuits to get the experience and prove your any good. A degree in motorsport engineering will get you a job cleaning tires at a event like the Britcar championship. the problem is people are stopping these championships from racing now because of the noise.
So which championships are being stopped because they are too noisy? Before you say Britcar 24hour that is more of a one off event and anyway it's been provisionally booked for a return on the 11 and 12th of April next year with apparently full support from the two parish councils. I can't speak for other Britcar teams but in ours the lads with the degrees do all the spannering whilst we have some school kids who wash the wheels.Where do people get this scaremongering crap about 'no more noisy cars in 10 years'? Noise limits at circuits are clearly defined and if the circuit chooses to ignore those limits then, as Mallory park discovered, they will get shut down. The circuits enforce the limits so rigidly that the public address system is shut down right on the curfew and anyone who fires a car up even to move it a few feet gets into serious trouble.
Anyhoo, who is going to the Formula E testdays? I'll probably make the effort as despite not being convinced it has a long term future I am interested to see it in the flesh. Interestingly the test days overlap this years British GP so it looks like F1 friday practise and the last day of the young driver test will be good days to go to Silverstone as apparently everyone will be at Donington watching Formula E.
Not for me but if you want to watch the pre season testing at Donington
http://www.donington-park.co.uk/event-form/
http://www.donington-park.co.uk/event-form/
I suppose the NIMBY's dont actually head to too many events to appreciate the difference in sight and sound?
Standing at the entrance to the complex and Silverstone and feeling and seeing and E-Tron whoosh past you like a stealth fighter while flying through at huge speed. And then followed by a Ferrari. Different strokes, very interesting.
My fear for Formula E is that they try a bit too hard to make it unique, and the city circuits will be dull for racing and not allow them to stretch their legs at all.
But if it sticks, the technology could be huge for industry.
Standing at the entrance to the complex and Silverstone and feeling and seeing and E-Tron whoosh past you like a stealth fighter while flying through at huge speed. And then followed by a Ferrari. Different strokes, very interesting.
My fear for Formula E is that they try a bit too hard to make it unique, and the city circuits will be dull for racing and not allow them to stretch their legs at all.
But if it sticks, the technology could be huge for industry.
London round will be held on a course set up in Battersea Park.
http://www.crash.net/formula-e/news/206226/1/batte...
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=battersea+park&am...
Shame the power station isn't still working, they could have built a giant scalextrix circuit and had the cars run for longer without the need for pitstops and 2nd cars.
http://www.crash.net/formula-e/news/206226/1/batte...
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=battersea+park&am...
Shame the power station isn't still working, they could have built a giant scalextrix circuit and had the cars run for longer without the need for pitstops and 2nd cars.
te - the driver in 2nd gets the power boost, drives past the poor bThe Scalextric comment earlier made me smile.
And then I thought .... celebrity races. Get Di Caprio off his huge rented yacht or wherever he is consuming carbon today and put him in an electric racing car. Make him a driving star! It should be easy enough to actually run the things from the base as you would do with any drone.
The persuade everyone in London and other large cities that an Electric car is what they need.
Why?
Well where I am, about 120 miles up the M1 from London would, on the basis if existing technology, be a 'recharging' stop for all the "Friday afternoon heading north to escape London" crowd. A huge business opportunity and far more likely to be financially beneficial to the area than HS2.2 (for example).
They would have to stop for about half an hour or longer. Immense potential for high speed charging stations, refreshments and, potentially, accommodation. Proper wealth transfer from the south. There would probably be a repeat on Sunday night too as they all head back. What a result!
And then I thought .... celebrity races. Get Di Caprio off his huge rented yacht or wherever he is consuming carbon today and put him in an electric racing car. Make him a driving star! It should be easy enough to actually run the things from the base as you would do with any drone.
The persuade everyone in London and other large cities that an Electric car is what they need.
Why?
Well where I am, about 120 miles up the M1 from London would, on the basis if existing technology, be a 'recharging' stop for all the "Friday afternoon heading north to escape London" crowd. A huge business opportunity and far more likely to be financially beneficial to the area than HS2.2 (for example).
They would have to stop for about half an hour or longer. Immense potential for high speed charging stations, refreshments and, potentially, accommodation. Proper wealth transfer from the south. There would probably be a repeat on Sunday night too as they all head back. What a result!
kybo said:
I'm going on Wednesday and really looking forward to it.
The cars look impressive - lets hope the on-track action is too.
S
They sound odd but look fairly rapid. They seemed to have a few red flags for different things (i was only there for ~1hrs running) so some of them must have been trying despite it being a test session. there seemed to be a lot of day light through the low profile tyres and (relatively) small brakes.The cars look impressive - lets hope the on-track action is too.
S
jurbie said:
I think you are being a little optimistic if you think this will appeal to all those with no interest in motorsport, I'm not interested in cricket and if the powers that be decide to change the rules of cricket and start using wider stumps and a bigger bat, I'm still not going to be interested.
Noise and pollution has nothing to do with it, the people who don't like motorsport don't like it because they think that watching cars going around in circles regardless of what is powering them is just a bit dull. It's been said many times on this forum that the general public perceive cars as white goods and driving is just one of lifes banalities. These people aren't lying awake at night wishing for some kind of eco friendly racing they can enjoy without feeling guilty, they just don't care and there is nothing anyone can do to change that.
To most people, bicycles are white goods too.Noise and pollution has nothing to do with it, the people who don't like motorsport don't like it because they think that watching cars going around in circles regardless of what is powering them is just a bit dull. It's been said many times on this forum that the general public perceive cars as white goods and driving is just one of lifes banalities. These people aren't lying awake at night wishing for some kind of eco friendly racing they can enjoy without feeling guilty, they just don't care and there is nothing anyone can do to change that.
And yet, 2.5 million people turned out to watch the Tour de France grande depart in Yorkshire. Why? Because they didn't have to go anywhere. The racing came to them.
If anything works in Formula-E's favour, it'll be the locations. Taking it to the fans who don't even know they're fans yet, but if it's on their doorstep, they'll sure pop their heads out to see what's going on. That's the real genius I think. The rest of it, batteries and quietness and all, could be seen as just a list of what's necessary to get race cars into city street circuits. I wouldn't be surprised if, rather than flop, these events became THE place for corporations to be doing their hospitality. Got a store near the circuit? Order the fizz and get your best clients in for finger-food and eco-action!
The potential is definitely there. Of course, that's no guarantee it'll catch on, but when you take the action to the people you've instantly got one hell of an advantage over any other formula.
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