Formula E arrives in South Africa for the Cape Town E-Prix

Aya Hussain

The ABB Formula E World Championship arrives in South Africa for the first time with the race taking place on Saturday 25 February 25
The Cape Town E-Prix 1993 takes place on the streets close to the city’s stunning beaches, with Table Mountain providing a stunning backdrop

Porsche leads the drivers and teams championship after four races in the season, which includes 15 a race

hosting Cape Town The next race in the ABB Formula E World Championship is on Saturday (25 February), which is the first time that a race within this championship has been held in sub-Saharan Africa, and the second One of three races to be held in a new host city.

Table Mountain provides a fantastic backdrop for Round 5 as the race takes place on the streets of Cape Town over the weekend, following a memorable race held for the first time in Hyderabad , in India, while the next round heads to Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The city’s Green Point district provides the location for the 2km high-speed circuit.921 , which hosts the race Which consists of 30 a lap around DHL Stadium near the coast on Robben Island.

The circuit is expected to feature the fastest track of the season consisting of 16 racing, it also features hard braking spots, narrow lanes in Turns 4, 5 and 6, and a narrow halfway section of the circuit that is challenging for 22 drivers and their third-generation GEN3 cars, the fastest, lightest and most efficient electric racing car ever.

The Porsche Team confirms its supremacy

With a quarter of the season reached, the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team and driver Pascal Wehrlein lead both the drivers’ and teams’ championships. The German claimed a double victory in Diriyah, after climbing to the podium in the season opener in Mexico City. The Hyderabad circuit proved to be a tough test for the Stuttgart-based team, with a technical issue causing Wehrlein to experience difficulties in testing.

Wehrlein and Porsche were able to find the cause of the problem and come up with an appropriate solution. Finally managed to finish the race in fourth place behind Antonio Felix de Costa, who finished third, and this means that the German team topped the standings of the Formula E Constructors’ Championship for the first time in its fourth season of competition.

The conditions were not during the Hyderabad race As the Porsche team wishes. Avalanche Andretti Formula E driver Jake Dennis, who relies on the Porsche 30 XGEN3 electric power unit, moved away from a possible third place after a clash with Rene Rast (from the NEOM McLaren Formula Team). any). Finishing 16th was costly for Dennis, who won the first round in Mexico and finished second in both Diriyah races, allowing Wehrlein to extend his lead over Dennis, who remains second.

Jean-Eric Vergne’s victory in Round 4 at the Hyderabad GP ushered in the era of double champions GEN3 and DS Penske’s defensive driving style.

Many were expecting him to DS Penske performed well at the start of the season, but struggled with only seven points after three rounds of the ninth season. But Vergne’s win helped propel the team to 30 a point in India.

Vergne took the lead from the lap) After passing Envision Racing’s Sebastien Buemi, he relied on his experience to break away from team mate Nick Cassidy who was chasing a late lead into third place in the drivers’ standings.

Cassidy managed to finish in second place, and had about four percent more usable energy than race winner Vergne going into the last two laps.

In his statement, Vergne said: “I am very happy for the team. It’s been a very tough three races and I’m proud of the team’s achievement because we never gave up. We keep working and the result doesn’t matter – I’m so proud of all my team mates.”

“We have a good car, maybe not the best at the moment, but we will keep working hard to be the best and come back in the championship. This is what we do, and we will never give up.”

Speed ​​was not one of the problems for Jaguar TCS Racing in Hyderabad. Driver Mitch Evans was on pole, and both drivers secured their top-six positions at an early stage, while energy management was also a positive feature, as evidenced by the performance of the Jaguar-powered Envision Racing cars.

Were it not for his team-mate’s slip at the hairpin turn, the two Jaguar drivers seemed capable of taking on Vergne at the front going into the closing stages of the race. Bird was quick to apologize for the error that ended the race for Bird himself and his team mate Mitch Evans.

Bird and his team will make adjustments ahead of Cape Town as he says: “We had a great car, but I affected my team’s result . I feel really weak but we have a race in Cape Town to try and put things right. The most important thing is that we have a fast car.”

“Growing up in South Africa and watching the last World Championship race there in [ At Kyalami, it feels like a proud moment for myself and the other team members from South Africa, as we are contributing to the return of first-class racing to our motorsport-savvy nation.”

Johannesburg-born driver Kelvin van der Linde learned this week that he will remain in the ABT Cobra squad in place of the injured Robin Frijns, meaning his Formula E debut in South Africa will take place over the weekend. His brother Sheldon is seen racing in sports cars at Kyalami.

Returning to the APT Cobra team will be difficult at the moment with no points and a best finish 11 for Nico Muller at the Hyderabad Grand Prix. Things seem to be slowly improving, and Van der Linde is looking forward to the support he has at home as the race takes place in his home country and in front of his home crowd in Cape Town.