By: Justin Jacobs
Cape Town – I recently watched a video where a few young lions were making life difficult for a honey badger. They kept clawing at the poor badger, biting it and tossing it around. Then all of a sudden the badger got a bit bored and started fighting back. It started to bite and attack the lions.
The lions, unsure about this, knew that they had no chance against this badger and ran off. The badger shook itself off and trotted on its way. We South Africans are that badger. Why you might ask?
Well, despite the difficulties that we face, crime, corruption and the like, we will continue to shake ourselves off and carry on. That’s why Cape Town played host to the first Formula E event on African soil, despite rampant load shedding. We are South African and no electricity crisis will stop us from hosting a motorsport event where all the vehicles rely on electricity to run.
I enjoy a good old Formula One race on a Sunday afternoon. I also enjoy watching a few GT3 cars go wheel to wheel around a track, I even enjoy Australian V8 Supercar racing where they just end up driving into each other.
Now when you mention Formula E, people tend to hurl insults and snuff at the idea of electric race cars that have no sound. Well, the recent race in Cape Town sure did silence a few naysayers. I was on the ground, in the pits and even on the track to see what Formula E is all about.
Let me start with the backdrop, Cape Town. Talk about picture perfect, postcard worthy, jaw-dropping beauty. To have a prestigious motorsport event with Table Mountain in the background and blue skies all around just can’t be beat in my opinion.
Now, as mentioned, this is the first race of its kind on the African continent. The Mother City’s Green Point district provided the location for a scheduled 30 laps of the high-speed 2.921km circuit, snaking around the DHL Stadium and skirting the coastline looking out on Robben Island.
The track proved to be the fastest of the 16-race season and featured bumpy braking zones, a few tight chicanes at turns 4, 5 and 6. A fast, narrow section midway around the lap challenged the drivers and their GEN3 machines which also happen to be the fastest, lightest, most powerful and efficient electric race cars ever built.
I, along with a few other motoring media were invited by Jaguar TCS racing. The team gave me a truly incredible look into what happens behind the scenes at a racing weekend. From setting up the pit area, walking the track for the first time and practicing pit-stops, I got to witness it all and it is a rollercoaster of a ride.
I sat down with Jaguar TCS team principal James Barclay to find out what the team objectives are for the Cape Town race following the previous race in Hyderabad which saw both cars retire.
“Our goal coming into the weekend in Cape Town is to put ourselves into a position to race for points and podiums. Having grown up in South Africa and watched the last World Championship race there in 1993 at Kyalami, it is a proud moment for myself and the other South African members of the team to be part of the return of top tier racing to this passionate motorsport country. The track is fast and challenging and will be a test for the teams, drivers and cars, and played out with the backdrop of Table Mountain, one of the seven natural wonders of the world.”
I was also given an opportunity to have a chat with both Mitch Evans and Sam Brid, the drivers of the Jaguar I-TYPE 6 race car. “As Formula E racing drivers, we are incredibly lucky to travel to new destinations and Cape Town is one that I’m particularly excited about. We’ve focussed on getting to grips with the new track” Sam Bird.
Mitch stated that he was aiming to get a good qualifying result so as to start at the front of the grid. What really intensifies the entire experience is that on the Friday the team has a brief practice session. Saturday saw a second practice followed by qualifying and then the race.
Unfortunately, that’s motorsport and things didn’t quite turn out as expected. The Jaguar TCS Racing team showed impressive pace throughout all practice sessions. Mitch Evans lined up fourth after making it through to the semi-finals of the qualifying Duels. Which sees drivers go head to head in elimination rounds, it is truly nail-biting stuff.
Evans held his position off the start line, found a solid rhythm in the car and the team had a good energy management strategy. On lap 11 of the 32 lap race, Mitch served a drive-through penalty for overuse of power at the start. Following the penalty, Mitch re-joined the track at the back of the pack and worked hard to close the gap to the rest of the field. On lap 28 Mitch overtook the NIO 333 of Sérgio Sette Câmara to move up to P12. A last-lap accident for Sacha Fenestraz promoted Mitch to P11.
Sam Bird was unable to compete in the inaugural Cape Town E-Prix following an accident in Qualifying. On his final flying lap, the Brit crashed into the barriers while trying to slow down for an accident to the Maserati MSG of Edoardo Mortara ahead. His Jaguar I-TYPE 6 required a chassis change but there was insufficient time to complete the work before the race.
What I can tell you is that due to the limited number of laps, the racing is close. One wrong move and drivers can be overtaken by a number of cars. These cars are also relatively quick, reaching speeds of over 250km/h in some areas. The mind boggling thing is that they only have front brakes. While there are motorbike brakes at the rear, they can only use those in emergencies. They rely on the regenerative properties of the electric motors to assist with slowing the car down.
These cars are also able to produce around 300kW of power however on the track is an area called The Attack MODE. Here, drivers need to go off of the racing line which can see them lose time and drive over four activation markers. These unlock an extra 50kW of power. It is a strategic card to play that could work in their favour or not.
At the end of the day and down to the last lap it was Antonio Felix da Costa who drove a storming race from 11th on the grid to his first win for TAG Heuer Porsche after one of the best moves you'll ever see for the lead. The gap was half-a-second with the full 30 laps down. On Lap 30, Da Costa produced an outrageous pass to steal the lead at the trickiest part of the track – Turn 7, 8 and 9 combo that had been the site of three crashes earlier in the weekend. The Season 6 champ sent it around the outside of Turn 7 with no room to breathe and made it stick up the inside at Turn 8.
While I felt for the Jaguar TCS team, my gracious hosts, I was happy for motorsport and happy for South Africa. We packed the grand stands, tickets were sold out and around 25 000 people came to witness the racing. The entertainment areas were also a hive of activity with the focus being on electric cars and bikes. The public was able to test drive a few of the latest electric vehicles on offer. Get a first hand experience into the charging setup for home use and explore other alternative energy sources.
I was truly blown away by the overall event and how professionally it was executed. From the track layout, the pit area to the public areas and everything in between. Well done South Africa, well done Cape Town and by the sound of it, Formula E will be back!
Follow Justin Jacobs on Instagram: @thejustbin