The sixth round of the Formula E Championship takes place at the Long Beach street circuit in California. The championship comes three weeks after the inaugural Mexican ePrix where once again there was great racing, as well as a little bit of controversy. The season is hotting up nicely with a clear leader at the top of the standing, and the three other race winners all wanting to close the gap.
It looked like it was going to be a great win for Lucas di Grassi and the ABT Schaeffler team in Mexico City, but once again they had fallen foul of the regulations, this time for the car being underweight at the end of the race. This handed the win to Dragon Racing’s Jerome D’Ambrosio.
The disqualification also handed Renault eDAMS driver Sebastian Buemi a 22 points lead at the top of the standings, with di Grassi in second and DS Virgin Racing’s Sam Bird in third.
Track: Long Beach Street Circuit
Circuit Length: 2.10km (1.305 miles)
Race Length: 86.1km (53.50 miles)
Laps: 41 laps
Season One Winner: Nelson Piquet Jr. ( NEXTEV TCR )
Fastest Race Lap: 58.973s – Nico Prost ( Renault eDAMS )
Based upon a variation of the Long Beach Grand Prix circuit, which Indycar will be using in a couple of weeks time, the track uses the famous Shoreline Drive, before making a cut through to the back straight. The end of the Formula E track retains the well-known hairpin that leads back to the start-finish straight.
Last year’s Long Beach ePrix winner and defending champion Nelson Piquet Jr has been struggling so far in the NEXTEV TCR car. The team look to have been left behind this season with the powertrains being opened for development, although Long Beach was the first of two wins for the Brazilian last year. A solitary eighth place for Piquet Jr in Putrajaya, and two point scoring finishes for teammate Oliver Turvey leave NEXTEV at the bottom of the Constructor’s Championship.
The race is a late one for fans from Europe, as it will be starting at midnight BST due to the eight hour time difference between England and California. The first practice session begins at 16:15 BST.
