Hyderabad: As Hyderabad gears up for one of the most awaited international events to be held in the city — ABB FIA Formula E World Championship - two racers who are going to be in the thick of all the racing action, have shown glimpses of what Formula E is like.
Andre Lotterer of Team Avalanche Andretti and Jean Eric Vegne of Team DS Penske represented the ABB FIA Formula E at the Hard Rock Cafe in Banjara Hills on Thursday. The racers who had a brief interaction with the media were excited to race at Hyderabad’s street circuit for the first time.
A 30-minute video that spoke about the evolution of Formula E and the race cars used in the event was screened at the venues to throw some light on the motor racing sport and the people associated with it.
The single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars was conceived in Paris in 2011 and the inaugural championship race was held in Beijing in 2014. Formula E has the FIA World Championship status since 2020, making it the first single-seater racing series outside of Formula One to be given the status.
Now racing with the Gen 3 electric racing cars, both Andre Lotterer and Jean Eric Vegne recollected how the first-generation electric racing cars forced them to jump from one car to another in between races. “Driving the first-generation cars meant that we had to jump out of one car into another in the middle of the race,” said Andre.
Talking about the evolution of the sport and the cars, Vegne said “The evolution of the cars and the sport has been fantastic. It just keeps getting better and better.”
On the pressure which comes with all the traveling and racing, Jean said that pressure was something every athlete had to live with and it was pretty much the same with the racers who also have to overcome immense pressure to be able to perform and win races.
Meanwhile, the stage is set for the race in Hyderabad, where over 20,000 spectators will be witnessing India’s first-ever Formula E race which will see 11 teams and 22 drivers fight it out on the 2.8 km track laid out at the NTR Marg.
