Virgin Racing travel to Marrakech determined to right their upset in Hong Kong. Despite both cars qualifying on the second row of the grid, the team came away without scoring points. All now look toward race 2 as Formula E debuts in Africa.
Marrakech is a track of significance to the team. “I’ve raced and won here three times before with the WTCC” explains José María López. “It was a touch narrow. But then again, a Formula E car takes up less room than a WTCC car, so It should be a good fight.”
The team’s experience here isn’t limited to its drivers. Our engineers have a history of racing and winning in Marrakech and are confident this will give the team an edge. Our track simulator testing revealed that the top achievable speed for a Formula E car is 210 km/h, faster than WTCC’s 205 km/h.
The track is a dramatic departure from Hong Kong – twelve turns to Hong Kong’s nine and over half a kilometre longer. As the longest track in the series, the teams’ challenge for Marrakech will be tactical battery preservation – something that Sam Bird displayed masterfully during Hong Kong, leading the pack for several laps before the car change.
The track isn’t the only place where key strategies are being played out. The Marrakech ePrix coincides with the Cop22 Summit: a meeting of the world’s leaders on sustainability and climate change. In tandem, Virgin Racing will be hosting an Innovation Summit in front of our garage on November 10th, featuring international panellists discussing EVs and sustainable tech.
“We’ve gone to space, we’ve done biofuel flight and we were the first to go non-stop solo around the world. Virgin is all about making sustainability fast.” states Team Principal Alex Tai.
Back trackside, both Pechito and Sam Bird move into Marrakech with a point to prove after Hong Kong. “As far as I’m concerned, this is Race 1 now. Let’s put points on the board” explains Sam Bird.
The team now await the opportunity to re-assert themselves, in just a few days’ time.
| Marrakech Timings | 12th Nov | |||
| Free Practice 1 | 0800-0845 | |||
| Free Practice 2 | 1030-1100 | |||
| Qualifying | 1200-1300 | |||
| Race | 1605-1700 |