Munich. The first Formula E Championship event with two races
on one weekend will take place in Berlin (GER) on 10th
and 11th June. The Berlin ePrix will see BMW works driver
António Félix da Costa (POR) and Robin Frijns (NED) in the German
capital for the eighth and ninth races of the series. They will be
giving their all to record a points finish in the cars from the MS
Amlin Andretti Team supported by BMW i.
The Challenge
The German round of the Formula E season returns to its season one
venue, Tempelhof airport, for season three. MS Amlin Andretti will
arrive with confidence gleaned from a strong Paris race for Frijns,
who earned points for his sixth-place finish in France. Though Félix
da Costa was not so lucky on the Parisian streets, he also looks for a
good race in Berlin, with plenty of strong racecraft shown in the
season so far. Both drivers will be aiming to score top-10 finishes
once again. The Berlin ePrix will offer a different challenge to the
last two, in Monaco (MON) and Paris, with narrow, tarmac streets
replaced by wide, bumpy concrete.
The Team
MS Amlin Andretti will race the ATEC-002 in Season 3, with Félix da
Costa and Frijns in its two entries – Frijns in number 27 and Felix da
Costa in number 28. BMW will provide expertise and support to the
American team as it runs its own powertrain for the first time in
Season 3, having run the standard Formula E technology in the first
two seasons. Fans can vote to give their favourite driver a ‘FanBoost’
– an extra energy allocation, available in the second half of the race
– online. The three drivers with the most votes receive an extra 100KJ
of energy, which can boost power by up to 30KW. There are two methods:
voting on fanboost.fiaformulae.com, or by using the hashtag #FanBoost,
plus #AntonioFelixdaCosta or #RobinFrijns, on Twitter.
The Expectations
António Félix da Costa, MS Amlin Andretti: “Berlin is
obviously an important race for me. As a BMW works driver, this is
kind of a home race in that aspect so it would be very nice to get a
good result. I missed this race last year due to a clash in schedule
but we are back to where we were in season one at Tempelhof Airport.
The track is a little bit different but we will approach it with an
open mind. With this being the first double-header of the season,
there are a lot of points up for grabs and we will do our best to
maximize the opportunity.”
Robin Frijns, MS Amlin Andretti: “After a good race
in Paris, Berlin is next. Formula E raced here during Season 1 but I
wasn’t racing Formula E back then so it’s going to be a new experience
for me. I really don’t know what to expect and it will be interesting
to race here for the first time during a double-header. The weekend is
going to be very busy with two races. Our aim is to be in the points
with both cars, in both races and keep on doing what we did in Paris.”
The City
Berlin, forward thinking and youthful in spirit, is a perfect fit for
Formula E. It’s a centre of popular culture and trends, often leading
fashion, design and music thinking around the world. It’s a real
melting pot of global culture, with people from all around the world
contributing to its unique atmosphere. The German capital has also
hosted the Olympic games, the FIFA World Cup final and a globally
famous marathon. Record-setting as the marathon runners are, Formula E
remains the fastest sport to be held in the city. The venue itself,
Tempelhof Airport, is famous for playing a central part in the 1948-49
Berlin airlift, and a transport aeroplane is located on the track’s
infield as a monument to this effort and the airport’s history.
The Circuit
FIA Formula E will return to Tempelhof Airport for the first time
since 2015. The character of the track is quite different to any other
on the calendar. Like the rest of the circuits, it is a bumpy affair;
however, it is a concrete surface, lower in grip than the tarmac seen
at other venues, and is also wider than many of the other locations on
the calendar. The layout is largely new, with two long flat out
sections broken up with a tight, technical first sector and two
hairpins – good overtaking opportunities – in the final sector. The
main ‘straight’ is in fact a long, fast left handed sweep, taking in
the curve of the airport’s structure.
The BMW i Vehicle Fleet
For Season 3, BMW i remains the “Official Vehicle Partner” for the
FIA Formula E Championship. The BMW i8 (fuel consumption combined: 2.1
l/100 km / 134.5 mpg imp; CO2 emissions combined: 49 g/km) will
continue as the high-performance, efficient Safety Car in Formula E.
The same goes for the BMW i3 (energy consumption combined: 12.9 kWh;
CO2 emissions combined: 0 g/km), which is the “Medical Car” and “Race
Director Car” and for the BMW X5 xDrive40e (fuel consumption combined:
3.4–3.3 l/100 km / 83.1–85.6 mpg imp; CO2 emissions combined: 78–77
g/km; figures based on the EU test cycle, may vary depending on the
tyre format specified), which functions as the “Rescue Car” or
“Extrication Car”.