Tag: formulae

Formula E, Interviews, opinion, Preview, Q&A

Evans reflects on his and Jaguar’s ‘strongest’ season

by katyfairmanLeave a Comment on Evans reflects on his and Jaguar’s ‘strongest’ season
Evans reflects on his and Jaguar’s ‘strongest’ season

When Jaguar Racing joined Formula E in season three, they inevitably found themselves at a slight disadvantage as teams around them had already gained two years experience in the all-electric championship. The first season proved slow and a huge learning curve, with the team’s best result being a 4th place and 8th place at the Mexico City ePrix for Mitch Evans and Adam Carroll, respectively.  Nelson Piquet Jr, the season one champion in Formula E, then joined the team for season four alongside Evans.

Season Four, with the duo of Evans and Piquet Jr, proved to be more of a success. Evans earned his first ever pole position in Formula E and even managed to secure himself a podium finish after Daniel Abt’s disqualification in Hong Kong.

However, with the introduction of the Gen2 cars and Jaguar taking big steps such as producing most of their race car in-house, Evans has really had his time to shine and finally demonstrate the raw and impressive talent he has behind the wheel. Finally taking his first Formula E win this year and currently sitting in third in the drivers’ standings, the Kiwi could take the title this weekend. I caught up with him away from the track to hear his thoughts on his best Formula E season to date and how he and the team plan on tackling this possible career-defining weekend.

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Formula E, Interviews, news

Wehrlein: Recent Mahindra competitiveness has come as a ‘relief’

by katyfairmanLeave a Comment on Wehrlein: Recent Mahindra competitiveness has come as a ‘relief’
Wehrlein: Recent Mahindra competitiveness has come as a ‘relief’

He secured his first pole position around the streets of Paris last time out, only to have it snatched from his grasp due to the car having “non-respect of the minimum tyre pressure”. This weekend in Monaco he starts the race in P3 after a penalty from Oliver Rowland promotes him up a place on the grid.

Despite racing around the famous Monaco street circuit during his time in F1, the Formula E rookie said that racing around this shorter version of the famous grand prix track layout was like learning the track all over again.

“I would like to drive the whole track,” Wehrlien told http://www.katyfairman.com. “I didn’t expect it [to be the full grand prix track] so I am not disappointed. The full track is really nice and I would like to do it but it is a new track again for me.

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Feature, Formula E, Interviews, Preview

How Gary Paffett left DTM as Champion to find new challenges in Formula E

by katyfairmanLeave a Comment on How Gary Paffett left DTM as Champion to find new challenges in Formula E
How Gary Paffett left DTM as Champion to find new challenges in Formula E

Imagine racing in one of motorsport’s best championships, competing for a top manufacturer and heading for your second drivers’ title. Sounds like the dream, right? For Gary Paffett, 2018 should have been a simple: focus on winning the DTM Championship title with Mercedes.

DTM was a series Paffett had raced in for the past fifteen years with great success but that was all to come to an end when Mercedes announced they would be quitting DTM at the end of the 2018 season, in favour of the all-electric Formula E Championship.

“Shock. Utter shock,” was how Paffett described to katyfairman.com when explaining his initial reaction to the news that Mercedes were leaving DTM. “It was something that shocked all of us, it really did. Nobody expected it to happen. There are always rumours here or there about one manufacturer pulling out of this or that, but Mercedes have been the ones that have been [in DTM] through everything. They are the ones that held it together when it was struggling. They had been there for thirty years without a break. So, it was a big shock not only to the outside world but to us in the team because nobody saw it coming.”

Continue reading “How Gary Paffett left DTM as Champion to find new challenges in Formula E” →

Feature, Q&A

My Motorsport Year and a Special Announcement

by katyfairmanLeave a Comment on My Motorsport Year and a Special Announcement
My Motorsport Year and a Special Announcement

Welcome, to my final blog post of 2018. It has been a pretty good year with me being able to attend more race weekends then ever before, visit events as accredited media that I had previously only ever dreamed of, oh and there was the day where I travelled to and from Switzerland all within 12 hours. In this blog post, I will reminisce and reflect on my key motorsport highlights from the year and give an honest review of my experiences and any corny life lessons I might have learnt along the way. If you are patient, you can also read about a new project I will be tackling in 2019. It is something that has been in the works since the summer and I am so happy to be sharing it with you all now as we approach the new year and welcome new beginnings. Anyway, enough waffling – I have made myself a huge mug of tea and am ready to confess all from my year in motorsport.

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Feature, Formula E, opinion

Why it is time you gave Formula E a chance

by katyfairman2 Comments on Why it is time you gave Formula E a chance
Why it is time you gave Formula E a chance

As season five of the Formula E championship rapidly approaches, I have been spying plenty of you on social media pondering if the hype for the all-electric championship is actually real. Well, Ladies and Gents, I am pleased to confirm that the rumours are in fact true: Formula E is one of the best championships motorsport has to offer.

Don’t worry, I was once like you. Living my life in the dark, thinking that roaring V12s were motorsport’s best and only offering and anything below that would send me to sleep – I grew up a nineties baby for goodness sake. Heaven forbid I was to ever find myself watching a motorsport championship which produced little to no noise at all (not true by the way), solely battery-powered even, but then along came Formula E. It was new, innovative and fresh and as my interest in championships like F1 took a dive, Formula E was there to remind me why I fell in love with motorsport in the first place.

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Feature, Formula E, Interviews

Allan McNish on Audi’s Formula E manufacturer renaissance

by katyfairmanLeave a Comment on Allan McNish on Audi’s Formula E manufacturer renaissance
Allan McNish on Audi’s Formula E manufacturer renaissance

The last time I sat down for an interview with Allan McNish was at the Geneva International Motor Show earlier this year. Months before our meeting at the world-famous exhibition, McNish was confirmed as the Team Principal at the Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler Formula E Team – arguably a big jump for the hugely successful racing driver into managing a Formula E team. It is fair to say the start of the season for the team didn’t quite go to plan: disqualification, disappointment and disaster for then-series Champion Lucas di Grassi. Odds of winning the Constructors’ title seemed near impossible mid-way through the season, with McNish telling me that “the chances of winning the championship is a bit like a train that had already departed the station.” Fast forward just a little over seven months later and Allan and I reunited for another 1-to-1 interview. This time we are sat in the Audi Motorhome in Valencia as pre-season testing gets underway behind us. It is a very chilled environment, drivers Daniel Abt and Lucas di Grassi continue to soak up laps during the three day test in a car that looks to be pretty competitive for season five, oh and Audi did the impossible and are the current Constructors’ champions.

“That sounds like a good analogy, doesn’t it?”, McNish begins with when I tell him of his ever-so slightly pessimistic attitude the last time we managed to sit down for an interview. “There was a few times when I look back and think, there is no way that that could ever happen,” he continued. “If you look at the points and where we were and the performance we had and the performance everybody else had, then normally, it wasn’t possible. I think it was partly due to, I would say, a reasonable car, because I do think the car was good. No, we knew the car was always good. We knew we could be competitive.

“Us taking advantage of every situation that came, I think that was one key factor. Another key factor was having two drivers that were competitive all the time. And that wasn’t the case with everybody in the pit lane. And the final one was, when it came down to it, we held our nerve, and not everybody did.”

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Formula 1, Formula E, Interviews, news

Exclusive: Wehrlein set to balance Mahindra FE drive with another series

by katyfairmanLeave a Comment on Exclusive: Wehrlein set to balance Mahindra FE drive with another series
Exclusive: Wehrlein set to balance Mahindra FE drive with another series

His name has been linked with the F1 Toro Rosso seat, as well as various Formula E drives, however ex-F1 driver and former DTM Champion Pascal Wehrlein was confirmed to be joining the Mahindra Racing line up for season five of Formula E yesterday.

His partnership with Formula E veteran Jérôme D’Ambrosio has impressed many and it’s hoped that the new duo can continue the impressive form the team has managed over the past four seasons with three wins to their name.

However, speaking to katyfairman.com, the Formula E debutant revealed that part of the influence of singing with Mahindra was because he could participate in another motorsport series in addition to his Formula E drive.

Continue reading “Exclusive: Wehrlein set to balance Mahindra FE drive with another series” →