Cape Town – Formula E fever has hit Cape Town as the city readies itself for the first-ever ePrix race in Sub-Saharan Africa.
After months of planning and preparation, the track and it’s surrounds are all ready for the race, which will take tomorrow at 4:04pm.
The driver will have their first practice session later this afternoon and it will be the first time they get a sense of the new track in their cars, after having a grid walk on Thursday.
Jaguar TCS’ Mitch Evans says his team have done well on new tracks and he is hoping that can continue in the Mother City.
“Obviously when it comes to a new layout some teams and drivers will get up to speed at different rates. Historically we have been really strong in new locations, which is important when you come into a one-day event at a new venue. We need to use our historical approach to try and make sure we are on top of things by the time we come to the important part of the day, like qualifying for the race.
"A lot of it is kind of guess work as well, when it comes to the racing side; how well does the track race, how can we overtake in our category. Obviously we have a lot of energy saving and how energy demanding this track will be.“
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“The tracks looks amazing, looks extremely fast, challenging, it’s probably going to be the fastest track we have ever experienced, so that’s exciting but high-speed, always a bit dangerous in some parts, but the whole event is looking amazing. The backdrop, location, the track being right next to the water, it really just looks incredible. We are all happy to be here.“
Evans’ teammate, British driver Sam Bird, says he is really impressed with the look of the track.
“Looks unbelievable, quite tight in some areas, twisty, fast undulating. Amazing backdrops, great scenery. I think smoother than what I expected it to be after the driving in the simulator. There were some very harsh bumps in the simulator. There are some bumps, but I don’t think they are as bad as what I thought they might be. I think it’s going to be awesome.”
The first practice of the race gets under way at 4.55pm today. The second practice session will be at 9.05am on Saturday, with qualifying starting at 11.40am and the main race getting under way at 4.04pm.
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