New monitor, new ambitions. Significantly since DS Penske likes to go to locations the place nobody has ever pushed a System E automotive. Normally, circuits which have by no means seen an electrical single-seater, the place the success of the weekend depends upon preparation – and due to this fact on expertise – work effectively for Jean-Eric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne.
Final 12 months’s high factors scorers on this configuration and good leaders within the first races of this sort of race this season, these two drivers even have a 3rd of the titles which have been awarded because the begin of the championship. They due to this fact arrive in China with sturdy – and bonafide – ambitions. Sturdy ambitions and in addition fond recollections in China, the place motorsport is gaining in notoriety.
Certainly, the final time System E raced there – it was in 2019 on the ephemeral Sanya circuit – it was Vergne who gained. That was in March, and it was the primary victory of the season for the then reigning champion, and his single-seater, ready by DS Efficiency, the competitors division of DS Cars, had stunned the competitors with its above-average tempo and effectivity.
Stoffel Vandoorne, DS Penske, DS E-Tense FE23
Picture by: DPPI
Vitality administration will as soon as once more be key
The Shanghai circuit, which is 3.05 km lengthy and has 12 bends, presents a problem for electrical single-seaters. As it’s a everlasting monitor, admittedly considerably tailored for the self-discipline, it doesn’t require the identical power consumption calculations as a city-centre monitor. The beginning is especially attention-grabbing, with the primary few bends forming a snail’s tempo earlier than releasing up for a protracted straight that ends in a hairpin. The remainder is fairly quick, with some massive corners, then the lap finishes with a chicane earlier than the pitstraight.
“Because the begin of the season, we have seen that our work within the simulator has had a optimistic influence on the monitor,” says Vergne. “We’re typically effectively positioned in apply in addition to in qualifying, the place for the previous few races we have repeatedly been above the quarter-final stage. We nonetheless do not know something in regards to the degree of every driver on the Shanghai monitor, however I hope that the plans we have now drawn up will allow us to struggle on the entrance.”
Earlier this week, the DS Penske crew arrived in Shanghai after celebrating its fiftieth podium (from 115 begins) in Berlin only a fortnight in the past. Should you add that to their tally of victories (16) and titles (4, together with two constructors’ titles), it is value declaring that that is the crew with essentially the most awards in System E.
Will these figures improve on the two races in Shanghai? Let’s discover out on Saturday night, after the end of the primary race.
Stoffel Vandoorne, DS Penske, DS E-Tense FE23
Picture by: DPPI