A RACING RETURN & A WORLD PREMIERE: 2021 LONDON E-PRIX PREVIEW

ROKiT Venturi Racing looks ahead to the return of the London E-Prix

THE CIRCUIT ExCeL London Length // 2.252-kilometres Corners // 22

TIME TO EXCEL

As Season 7 of the FIA Formula E World Championship edges ever closer to its conclusion, this weekend the series heads to London to contest Rounds 12 and 13.

As the penultimate race weekend of the season, the 2021 London E-Prix marks the third to date and the first since 2016 as the UK capital makes a welcome return to the calendar.

By swapping the former host venue of Battersea Park for the ExCeL, the arena becomes Formula E’s newest track and the 2.252-kilometre long venue boasts a handful of firsts for the championship making it one of the most unique racing circuits in the world.

The undulating high-speed challenge is far from a typical street circuit, however, and in a first for motorsport, we will race both indoors and outdoors on the same track. Alongside using the ExCeL’s access roads, the track will take drivers into the interior of the ExCeL itself which will be the site of the start/finish straight for the coming weekend.

Featuring 22 corners, the circuit is not only the most complex on the Season 7 calendar but also the most technical in the history of Formula E, with no other track featuring this number of turns.

As the championship fight goes down to the wire this weekend, all eyes will be on the Royal Docks area of the city and expectations are high as we race on the highly anticipated ExCeL London circuit for the first time.

IN THEIR WORDS

Susie Wolff, ROKiT Venturi Racing Team Principal “As the penultimate race weekend of the season, the London E-Prix is of crucial importance - scoring well at the ExCeL will be essential to set up August’s finale in Berlin. In New York, we saw once again just how fast things can change in Formula E and we still have plenty of work to do to achieve the performances that we know we’re capable of. London is going to be very challenging for the drivers, not only due to the varying surface grip levels inside the venue versus outside, but also the height variations of the track especially the down hill section at the start - which I’m sure will make it very interesting for the fans to watch. As with any new circuit, completing consistent running throughout practice will be important to establish a performance baseline and hopefully, we can be in the mix and threaten for big points.”

Edoardo Mortara

“New York wasn’t a great weekend for me but I’m looking forward to getting back out on track and I’m excited to race on the ExCeL circuit for the first time. As always consistency will be the key during our practice session and I’m preparing myself to face the usual challenges posed by qualifying in Group 1. If we can qualify well, I’m confident that we’ll be able to finish well if we focus on our own race. At this late stage in the title fight, scoring points consistently is the most important thing.”

Norman Nato “Racing on a circuit that is new for everyone should level the playing field and as a rookie, it will hopefully be a big equaliser because I won’t be playing catch up. The ExCeL track looks very technical but also very fast and I think it will produce some good racing action for the fans. Over the past few races, we have shown that we have the pace as a team and if we’re able to improve in qualifying, I’m confident that we can challenge the top five and score some big points. I can’t wait to get back into the car and get the weekend underway.”

Information and photo source : ROKiT Venturi Racing