FIA Formula E Championship 2014-15

[helgi]

Wow. 40 Euro for a race? You should be lucky. Moscow event tickets start from 70 Euro. I really can't understand who's going to watch that. Maybe those who are not autosport fans but just are curious for something new. All in all, I may be wrong, but 70-80 Euros is a good price for a DTM week-end Gold tickets. Excuse me for some off-topic.

[bella]

i have a friend who will be going to the moscow round. she's still a student, but since wsr has opted not to go to the moscow raceway this year and f3 has dropped out of the dtm round it's the only option she has to see european/world level single seaters. i think she may be planning to go to sochi but it's insanely expensive, especially for someone who isn't working full time.

so i think the answer to your post is that some motorsport fans will still go, because they don't have the option to see anything else!

[Alexander Matveev]

I can see 55 euro tickets right at the moment still available. Can't say it's easily accessible for anybody and some grandstands are nearly empty for the moment, judging by the booking page.

[helgi]

Originally Posted by bella

so i think the answer to your post is that some motorsport fans will still go, because they don't have the option to see anything else!

Well, there're some points. Firstly, to say the truth I really hope that this is not the future of autosport, as electromobiles are not the future of car industry. You can not solve the problem of environment pollution with moving the source of pollution from towns to outskirts, closer to virgin nature.
Secondly, I know there're some kind of fans (usually girls) who just stay near motorhomes for all the racing day, just waiting for drivers to sign an autograph or make a photo. They are not interested in racing itself, they just are curious about drivers, an opportunity to talk to them just for putting some posts at forum saying "wow, I've talked to one, to another".
Of course, I can be wrong, maybe I do not understand racing, but 40 minutes of RC buzzing and even an opportunity to talk to Buemi or Di Grassi are not enough to make me go there, even if the event location is just in 3 hours from my. I'd better wake up in 4.00 am in the rainy night, spend 5 hours in two trains (or 7 hours if I go to Nizhnii Novgorod race track) in one direction to see, listen, smell, breath some real racing. And I don't care if I won't be able to see any driver leaving his motorhome. I go to a race track to see racing. Of course, there're other opinions and ways to spend a day at racing track, but we, here in Russia, haven't been waiting for so long for this. Maybe, in Europe or US fans have plenty of high octane racing and some electric diversity is OK. But here, we still have some appetite for a good pure big plate of big bangers, tourers, mighty single sitters and (oh, how I wish) hybrids of LMP1.
Besides, Russia is not the best place to advertise electric mobiles. You know, it's a bit cold here in winter, so You'll have a dilemma at the middle of Your New Year journey to friends: driving fast without heaters, or waiting for a tow track in warm. That's it.

[Nikki Katz]

Hurrah, controversy has arrived already! How did Abt "repair" the car to make it illegal and suddenly half a second faster than everyone else?

Also, Trulli, every time!!! Does he just set up the car for qualifying and sod the race? Or did something else happen? Surely even by his standards going from pole to slowest car on the track whilst using up so much energy that he had to retire before the end is bad?

I'm still not liking the minimum pit time rules but I can't say I can think of an alternative (other than better batteries) that wouldn't make it more dangerous.

[bella]

Originally Posted by helgi

Secondly, I know there're some kind of fans (usually girls) who just stay near motorhomes for all the racing day, just waiting for drivers to sign an autograph or make a photo. They are not interested in racing itself, they just are curious about drivers, an opportunity to talk to them just for putting some posts at forum saying "wow, I've talked to one, to another".

true, there's lots of those in any country, but the ones i know were so excited to see and hear the racing in person. and they were excited to see and support the drivers they'd been following through the television and online too. they don't really support anyone in formula e, they just want to see it and be there. so yeah, sometimes people don't spend all day sat in the stands watching anything that goes around in circles but they're there, at a circuit, supporting the sport and telling their friends about it too. that's never a bad thing.

you have to be a little careful of snobbery. i find the guys who chase down drivers for autographs a little odd too, but that's how they follow our sport and as long as they're buying tickets, and turning up, it's all good.

i find the series fascinating. it's racing, everything normal in racing except the fuel economy thing looks a little different, pitstops look a little different and because they're a little slower and make much less noise than normal cars they can race in far more accessible and frankly brilliant and surreal venues. i'd like to think entirely electric cars aren't the future of racing too, but it's obviously not all going in that direction.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Justin Wilson to race for Andretti in Moscow. This grid...

[10TENTHS]

Originally Posted by Biscuits In A Red Bull

Justin Wilson to race for Andretti in Moscow. This grid...

Well some might see him as another F1 reject. Hopefully he has better luck than in his Indycar starts for Andretti.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by 10TENTHS

Well some might see him as another F1 reject. Hopefully he has better luck than in his Indycar starts for Andretti.

He's only had two IndyCar starts with Andretti Autosport this year.

[Mekola]

Antonio GarcÃ*a will sub Charles Pic for Moscow ePrix.

[Mekola]

Originally Posted by Biscuits In A Red Bull

Justin Wilson to race for Andretti in Moscow. This grid...

I'll be glad to see Tomas Enge in the grid...

[pirenzo]

Nelson Piquet Jr has just won the Moscow ePrix in a fairly processional race.

E.Dams timed their pit stops spot on, 68 seconds exactly. Except the limit was 58 seconds...

The quality of the footage took a noticeable dip however. The director missed pretty much every overtake, and most of the start too.

Jarno Trulli held everyone up as usual, and got away with cutting the chicane three times to maintain his position, which the stewards eventually resolved to investigate after the race?

[skells22]

once again we got a pen for a driver after the race, this time its Buemi but not for want people thought. it was due to an unsafe pit stop and not jumping the chicane as that was deemed no further action

[bjohnsonsmith]

I see Dario Franchitti had a go in an FE car in Moscow, all be it for a few laps.

[pirenzo]

Yeah, he wasn't pushing hard but it was good to see him back in a racing car.

On a general note, I was glad to have him back in the community box. No disrespect to Mike Conway (who is just as insightful) but Dario is a bit easier to listen to, and has more of a sheer enthusiast's perspective on things now he's retired.

[Nikki Katz]

Yeah, Franchitti makes a good commentator, I'm really not too sure about Conway.

The DAMS thing was insane. I really can't remember a single more stupid error in remembering the rules to a race. Oh, except that F3000 race where the lead driver (Wirdheim - what happened to him???) forgot to cross the finishing line before slowing and celebrating, gifting the victory to someone else.

I think that if Trulli wants to continue his team he needs to consider retiring as a driver. He's looking more and more desperate every week. The criticisms of him in F1 just seem to be amplified here. Though to be fair, race control had plenty of time to rectify it during the race but didn't.

[Beryl]

Originally Posted by Nikki Katz

(Wirdheim - what happened to him???)

What do you mean? He's still a Gainer driver, as he has been for the last few years, and he even took on a secondary LMP2 ride this year with Graeves.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Simona de Silvestro gets the second Andretti Autosport seat alongside Jean-Eric Vergne, for the double header in London.

[Razzzor]

Haven't really been able to watch the series because I'm damned if I know when it's on and can't be bothered figuring out where a live stream might be.

But goddam, you've got drivers like Bird, Buemi, Vergne, Alguersuari, Senna.... and yet it's Piquet Jr and Di Grassi at the top of the points table, quite easily! Di Grassi would be even higher up if he didn't get that dsq. Barring disaster, Piquet has the title now. Pre season I would expected them to be at the bottom of the points, not the top. They're not even with what I was expecting to be the fastest teams either.

Shows you just can't pick it. That's about the order I thought it would be above as well, with Bird dominating, but Vergne coming on very strong after missing the first 2 races.

Did anyone pick Piquet and Di Grassi 1-2?

[Razzzor]

Oh I see London is a double header... cool. I guess Buemi is still in it then.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

I could see di Grassi and Piquet Jr at the front. Di Grassi because he's fast and in a good team, and Piquet Jr knows what he's doing. I have always rated them more highly than Bird, tbh. Vergne has been fast but inconsistent, but had he competed a full season surely he'd be in the title fight?

Only 1 round to go, 2 races to decide the title. Sakon Yamamoto will also race in London.

[AoB Special Stage]

http://motorsportstalk.nbcsports.com...fia-formula-e/

http://www.electricautosport.com/201...london-finale/

[NaBUru38]

Cool to see De Silvestro and Turvey.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

So, for London, we have how many changes?

De Silvestro, Yamamoto, Turvey, and now Leimer and Fontana.

Nice grid, getting surprisingly Swiss though! Perhaps they could hold a race there...

[Alessio]

Not sure where the best place to ask this is, but will be heading to Formula E this Saturday. Only remaining ticket was a blue ticket for the eVillage, but was confused as to whether I was confined only to eVillage or if I would have access to standing sections around the circuit? :/