What a fantastic event, Sunday’s London ePrix was! The “bringing it to the people” idea behind choosing city-centre locations certainly seemed to work well on a summer afternoon in Battersea Park. The cars’ performance – and yes, even the sound – is dramatic when standing trackside.
One drawback of not racing at established circuits is that we can’t really compare the performance of the Formula E cars with conventional single seaters. On the other hand, they have now established their own set of benchmarks. The leap forward in season two should be quite significant.
Another drawback is that the track in the park was very narrow, which seemed to thwart quite a lot of overtaking (Mr Buemi?). And although I appreciate the safety aspect, it would be nice to have some photographs that aren’t blighted by chicken wire. Any chance of resurrecting Crystal Palace for next year’s London race?
Anyway, we should recognise the technical achievement behind this first championship. At that level of technology, to have four spec cars for each team, at each race, with all the know-how and spares back-up needed for that amount of track time, deserves respect.
Moreover, all credit to the FIA for supporting it so well. I’d like to see the FIM get behind e-motorcycle racing in the same way!