The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

dinizintheoven · Post by **dinizintheoven** » 12 Aug 2015, 00:21

I'm quite tempted as well, seeing as Donington Park is only a short(ish) bus ride away...

Also, those of you who listened to the podcast: I called it! (If a little late, having to add the comment in the editing phase...) Jacques Villeneuve will compete and be thrashed! Thrashed, I tell you! Now all we need is Kazuki Nakajima to join him for the full Stefan Grand Prix experience, and as we saw in the first season, some of those seats are even more of a merry-go-round than Napalm Death's first album.

Snoozey2 · Post by **Snoozey2** » 12 Aug 2015, 14:51

Team Aguri livery for Season 2 - soopah, innit?
http://www.motorsport.com/formula-e/news/exclusive-new-team-aguri-season-two-livery-revealed/

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 12 Aug 2015, 15:15

Barbazza wrote:Thanks for the report dr-baker.

It sounds like the pitwalk will be busy but worth it so I will probably pay my £5. I definitely intend to go to the museum as the last time I went was before digital cameras / decent cameras in phones so I'd like some nice pictures. No surprise on the lack of quality food really!

If you do go on the 24th, I'll see you there maybe!

It's looking likely, but will confirm next week. I would like to go to the museum for the first time, so I will probably aim to get there for between 10 and 11 am (probably nearer 11 am if I'm being realistic).

Snoozey2 · Post by **Snoozey2** » 13 Aug 2015, 20:45

Some notable headlines regarding the powertrain race for the upcoming season:

2015 Feb 23 ~ Eight powertrain manufacturers for season two.
http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/february/eight-manufacturers-to-enter-fia-formula-e-from-second-season.aspx

2015 Mar 26 ~ Dual motors for NextEV TCR.
http://current-e.com/chatter/dual-motors-for-china-racing/

2015 May 26 ~ Schaeffler developing ABT powertrain
http://www.electricautosport.com/2015/05/why-schaeffler-develops-the-powertrain-for-abt-formula-e-team/

2015 Jun 9 ~ Constructors complete crash testing.
http://current-e.com/chatter/constructors-complete-crash-testing/

2015 Jun 25 ~ Team Aguri to retain season one powertrain.
http://current-e.com/chatter/exclusive-aguri-to-retain-s1-powertrain-in-s2/

2015 Jun 27 ~ Citroen joins forces with Virgin Racing.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/119713

2015 Jun 29 ~ Renault enters as powertrain manufacturer.
http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/june/renault-confirms-manufacturer-entry-for-season-two.aspx

2015 Jul 8 ~ Andretti teams up with Houston Mechatronics.
http://www.autoblog.com/2015/07/08/andretti-formula-e-new-powertrain/

2015 Jul 15 ~ Dragon Racing to run Venturi powertrain.
http://www.motorsport.com/formula-e/news/exclusive-dragon-racing-to-run-venturi-powertrain

2015 Jul 17 ~ Trulli falling behind in testing.
http://www.formulaezone.com/?p=3146

2015 Jul 29 ~ Venturi unveils the VM200.
http://current-e.com/chatter/venturi-motor-first-look/

2015 Aug 3 ~ Homologation tests completed.
http://www.motorsport.com/formula-e/news/formula-e-season-two-powertrains-approved

2015 Aug 9 ~ Two more teams to re-use Spark?
http://www.motorsport.com/formula-e/news/revealed-two-formula-e-teams-could-revert-to-season-one-package

2015 Aug 11 ~ Mahindra reveals the M2Electro.
http://current-e.com/exclusive-m2electro-powertrain-revealed/

2015 Aug 13 ~ Jack Nicholls on Donington tests, Days 1-2.
http://www.electricautosport.com/2015/08/jack-nicholls-shares-thoughts-on-tests-and-new-powertrain-configurations/

Snoozey2 · Post by **Snoozey2** » 17 Aug 2015, 19:39

Team Aguri - my personal benchmark for technological progress in season 2:
http://www.theroar.com.au/2015/08/18/formula-e-season-2-old-vs-new-to-decide-the-champs/

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 17 Aug 2015, 20:41

Snoozey2 wrote:

Team Aguri - my personal benchmark for technological progress in season 2:
http://www.theroar.com.au/2015/08/18/formula-e-season-2-old-vs-new-to-decide-the-champs/

Team Aguri is YOUR personal benchmark for technological progress? So what's everybody else going to use as their benchmark? :facepalm:

By the way, that's a great livery. Reminds me of a mock-up of a livery for Stefan GP from a few years ago, I think?

Snoozey2 · Post by **Snoozey2** » 17 Aug 2015, 22:53

dr-baker wrote:Team Aguri is YOUR personal benchmark for technological progress?
So what's everybody else going to use as their benchmark?

hey, it's not as easy as it sounds.
simply by committing to the season 1 package, Team Aguri have thrown down the proverbial gauntlet, in that:
1) any advantage gained from the new powertrains is negligible; and
2) the risk of unreliability is too great.

halfway thru Donington, two teams have yet to complete a single lap, while a third team is falling behind.

dinizintheoven · Post by **dinizintheoven** » 18 Aug 2015, 12:07

dr-baker wrote:By the way, that's a great livery. Reminds me of a mock-up of a livery for Stefan GP from a few years ago, I think?

Don't encourage him!

...actually, do. Then Formula E could be even more like F1RMGP than it ever was...

Snoozey2 · Post by **Snoozey2** » 18 Aug 2015, 16:18

"IT'S ALIVE!!!"

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 18 Aug 2015, 16:30

Snoozey2 wrote:

"IT'S ALIVE!!!"

But sadly, the Trulli train is still in the siding, unable to build up a head of steam.

Snoozey2 · Post by **Snoozey2** » 18 Aug 2015, 17:09

dr-baker wrote:But sadly, the Trulli train is still in the siding, unable to build up a head of steam.

Never mind steam... did they even show up for testing the last couple of days? Very worrying.

Meanwhile, Abt & edams are answering the Aguri challenge.
They've gone from Formula Ford to Formula 3 in three days.

Snoozey2 · Post by **Snoozey2** » 19 Aug 2015, 15:55

Quite possibly the single greatest shot in the history of ever:

Never has "boring" looked so cool.

Nessafox · Post by **Nessafox** » 19 Aug 2015, 17:52

Snoozey2 wrote:Quite possibly the single greatest shot in the history of ever:

Never has "boring" looked so cool.

I see Heinz (-Harald Frentzen) had also catch up with him. *worst pun in GP Rejects history*

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 19 Aug 2015, 18:11

This wrote:
Snoozey2 wrote:Quite possibly the single greatest shot in the history of ever:

Never has "boring" looked so cool.

I see Heinz (-Harald Frentzen) had also catch up with him. *worst pun in GP Rejects history*

The worst pun would be to say that that is the single greatest Pic ever taken...

dinizintheoven · Post by **dinizintheoven** » 19 Aug 2015, 19:04

And never mind the Heinz, what about the Horsepower sauce next to it?

Admittedly, it should be a bigger bottle, and two bottles will be needed per portion of chips served, but the authorities are working on it...

Nessafox · Post by **Nessafox** » 19 Aug 2015, 19:54

dr-baker wrote:
This wrote:
Snoozey2 wrote:Quite possibly the single greatest shot in the history of ever:

Never has "boring" looked so cool.

I see Heinz (-Harald Frentzen) had also catch up with him. *worst pun in GP Rejects history*

The worst pun would be to say that that is the single greatest Pic ever taken...

Whilst having a nice picnick with lots of edams.

sw3ishida · Post by **sw3ishida** » 19 Aug 2015, 22:27

This wrote:
dr-baker wrote:
This wrote:I see Heinz (-Harald Frentzen) had also catch up with him. *worst pun in GP Rejects history*

The worst pun would be to say that that is the single greatest Pic ever taken...

Whilst having a nice picnick with lots of edams.

Sounds like an impressive Venturi if you ask me

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 19 Aug 2015, 22:42

Is this really an Abt place to make such Trulli awful puns? It will only make the thread Dragon without getting anywhere and Franckly it will look Loïc a mess.

Nessafox · Post by **Nessafox** » 20 Aug 2015, 01:51

Sorry for the mahindrance.

Snoozey2 · Post by **Snoozey2** » 20 Aug 2015, 16:45

If i could just hi-Jacques this thread for a while, i like to ask you guys something.

Auto buffs have their petrolheads and noiseheads, but in the EV circle the big question is: "to gear or not to gear?"
When Formula E first fitted a Hewland 5-speed sequential into their racecar last year, quite a few asked why. If you have instant torque, why bother with a gearbox at all? Those who subscribe to the Tesla model will probably share this opinion, but proponents of multi-speed transmissions insist that the latter is still necessary in order to fully maximize performance.

I could be wrong, but i do believe Season 2 will be the first time this debate is put to the test in the heat of competition.
So far, the rumoured battle lines are drawn as follows:

Direct Drive (Single Gear) - DS Virgin, NextEV
Twin-speed - edams (Sadev)
Three-gears - Abt (Schaeffler)
4-speed (sequential) - Mahindra, Venturi, Dragon (Hewland)
5-speed (sequential) - Aguri (Hewland)

Who are you rooting for?

UncreativeUsername37 · Post by **UncreativeUsername37** » 20 Aug 2015, 17:33

Go twin-speed! It's like Pole Position!!

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 20 Aug 2015, 17:36

Wherever Soopah Aguri go, I follow, so five-speed all the way :dance:

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 20 Aug 2015, 18:33

dr-baker wrote:
Barbazza wrote:Thanks for the report dr-baker.

It sounds like the pitwalk will be busy but worth it so I will probably pay my £5. I definitely intend to go to the museum as the last time I went was before digital cameras / decent cameras in phones so I'd like some nice pictures. No surprise on the lack of quality food really!

If you do go on the 24th, I'll see you there maybe!

It's looking likely, but will confirm next week. I would like to go to the museum for the first time, so I will probably aim to get there for between 10 and 11 am (probably nearer 11 am if I'm being realistic).

I've now got my tickets for next Monday and Tuesday. Fancy going round the museum together before testing begins?

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 20 Aug 2015, 21:16

Possibly, though I don't know exactly when I'll be at the circuit - all being well it should be at around 11.15 but that depends on a train + a bus, so you never know!

By the time I've got my ticket and got in, chances are that the testing may have started. But I do definitely intend to go to the museum at some point - my thought was to go directly after the pitwalk since the afternoon test session is longer.

Do we have private messages on here? Maybe best to take any further discussion there if so!

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 20 Aug 2015, 21:43

Wow, things really have gone off topic Durán the off-season

Post by **Londoner** » 21 Aug 2015, 14:00

Looks like old Jarno might already be abandoning his new powertrain and emulating Aguri for the season

Snoozey2 · Post by **Snoozey2** » 21 Aug 2015, 16:15

East Londoner wrote:Looks like old Jarno might already be abandoning his new powertrain and emulating Aguri for the season

[Groan] Yeah...
Well, at least Agag is giving Trulli the option of working on it if he's willing to cover traveling expenses (although the former is not too keen on spiraling costs, with good reason).

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 21 Aug 2015, 17:29

Barbazza wrote:Do we have private messages on here? Maybe best to take any further discussion there if so!

Look at the top of your screen, there should now be a notification that I have now sent you a PM! (Not a Prime Minister, I wouldn't want to inflict Dave on you!). You can access the messaging system via a drop-down list in the top-right of the screen (below the search box, above "Last visit was:", where it says "Welcome, [username]".

The first hour (12 noon to 1 pm) is likely just for systems checks, so I will probably go to the museum first, then the pit walk, then watch the main testing session (2 pm to 7 pm) thereafter,

Post by **mario** » 21 Aug 2015, 20:42

Snoozey2 wrote:If i could just hi-Jacques this thread for a while, i like to ask you guys something.

Auto buffs have their petrolheads and noiseheads, but in the EV circle the big question is: "to gear or not to gear?"
When Formula E first fitted a Hewland 5-speed sequential into their racecar last year, quite a few asked why. If you have instant torque, why bother with a gearbox at all? Those who subscribe to the Tesla model will probably share this opinion, but proponents of multi-speed transmissions insist that the latter is still necessary in order to fully maximize performance.

I could be wrong, but i do believe Season 2 will be the first time this debate is put to the test in the heat of competition.
So far, the rumoured battle lines are drawn as follows:

Direct Drive (Single Gear) - DS Virgin, NextEV
Twin-speed - edams (Sadev)
Three-gears - Abt (Schaeffler)
4-speed (sequential) - Mahindra, Venturi, Dragon (Hewland)
5-speed (sequential) - Aguri (Hewland)

Who are you rooting for?

With regards to an electric motor, my understanding is that, contrary to what is commonly asserted, electric motors do not produce a constant level of torque - because the motor will tend to generate a back emf when turning, the torque reduces as the rotational speed increases (although the motor can be designed such that the power output over the intended operational range is approximately constant).

In the short term, I expect that the question will probably tip in favour of the team that produces the most reliable transmission system (i.e. whether focussing on optimising the performance of existing technology, as Aguri are doing, will pay greater dividends over trying to develop and new and revolutionary system that suffers from short term performance issues).

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 22 Aug 2015, 17:12

dr-baker wrote:
Barbazza wrote:Do we have private messages on here? Maybe best to take any further discussion there if so!

Look at the top of your screen, there should now be a notification that I have now sent you a PM! (Not a Prime Minister, I wouldn't want to inflict Dave on you!). You can access the messaging system via a drop-down list in the top-right of the screen (below the search box, above "Last visit was:", where it says "Welcome, [username]".

The first hour (12 noon to 1 pm) is likely just for systems checks, so I will probably go to the museum first, then the pit walk, then watch the main testing session (2 pm to 7 pm) thereafter,

There is also the email function to the right, if you are not on a mobile device.

However, the weather forecast for Monday looks awful. Not gonna stop me though!

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 22 Aug 2015, 20:08

Just sent you a PM!

I had a feeling when I picked my day at random (well, more or less) that I would get the 'torrential downpours' one. Ah well.....

dinizintheoven · Post by **dinizintheoven** » 24 Aug 2015, 08:13

Right, looks like I'm joining in this test session, and all for the mere price of a copy of the Metro. And a bus ride to Donington Park. That won't break the bank.

Now let's see if Jarno Trulli and co can actually make their car move...

golic_2004 · Post by **golic_2004** » 24 Aug 2015, 11:54

Robin Frijins and Stefano Coletti join in testing for Amlin Andretti and Team Aguri respectively.

http://www.motorsport.com/formula-e/new ... ing-action

Waris · Post by **Waris** » 24 Aug 2015, 14:38

...aaand no more Trulli train

Trulli steps down from racing in FE

Understandable really, but still a shame IMO. I was looking forward to him being blindingly fast in qualifying and then slow as a snail in the race, holding everyone up from pole

nome66 · Post by **nome66** » 24 Aug 2015, 15:58

Waris wrote:...aaand no more Trulli train Trulli steps down from racing in FE

Understandable really, but still a shame IMO. I was looking forward to him being blindingly fast in qualifying and then slow as a snail in the race, holding everyone up from pole

he brought new method to being a rolling chicane. normally, one would need to be lapped.

Snoozey2 · Post by **Snoozey2** » 24 Aug 2015, 18:17

Now what can THIS be? Haven't seen this livery around before.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 24 Aug 2015, 19:25

Snoozey2 wrote:

Now what can THIS be? Haven't seen this livery around before.

Dinizintheoven today named it a Leyton House...

TheFlyingCaterham · Post by **TheFlyingCaterham** » 24 Aug 2015, 20:47

dr-baker wrote:
Snoozey2 wrote:

Now what can THIS be? Haven't seen this livery around before.

Dinizintheoven today named it a Leyton House...

I believe this (http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2014 ... rtner.aspx) should answer some uestions about that

Snoozey2 · Post by **Snoozey2** » 24 Aug 2015, 21:23

dr-baker wrote:Dinizintheoven today named it a Leyton House...

Much as i like to believe this paintjob was inspired by the late-eighties March, ill just play it straight and say this is NextEV's new colors.

btw, how did your day go?

dinizintheoven · Post by **dinizintheoven** » 24 Aug 2015, 21:59

We stuck it out until about ten minutes before the end, sitting there in the rain, with the circuit commentator barely believing there were any of us still there.

We'd been told Trulli might get their car out in the last 20 minutes, but it was not to be. I can only assume they had too many problems with the power steering.

I've noticed a few number shuffles as well - Stéphane Sarrazin is now 4 (Wikipedia hasn't woken up to that yet) and Jean-Éric Vergne is 25 (no surprises there).