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Formula E opens for business at Donington Park Circuit

The new all-electric racing series will be based from its Donington HQ.

The new Formula-E facilities at Donington race circuit are now officially open. In a project that took five months to turn around, all ten Formula-E teams now have an individual workshop at the Derbyshire track.

Formula E HQ opened at Doninginton Park Circuit, Derbyshire
Formula E HQ opened at Doninginton Park Circuit, Derbyshire

The planning team have created a ‘community-friendly’ complex where each team’s warehouse looks into a central courtyard. The venue is said to be ideal from a logistic standpoint, with plenty of room to manoeuvre trucks and with easy access to nearby East Midlands Airport.

F1 legend Alain Prost, who has invested significantly in the e.dams team said: “The combination of technology, racing and entertainment is what is most interesting. It’s not meant to be compared with Formula One. It’s a completely separate series.”

Each of the teams’ workshops has been equipped with an office and wi-fi to welcome them to their new ‘homes’. They also received the deliveries of their first racecars, the Spark Renault SP-01. Each team will eventually have four, due to be delivered in full over the course of the summer.  All teams will race with the same car for the first season. In the second season, teams will develop their own regulation-compliant chassis.

Speaking exclusively to Recombu, Karun Chandhok, former F1 racing driver, said: “It’s impressive how quickly it has all come together.”

The all-electric racing series, which features ten races in ten cities, starts in September in Beijing.  Rio De Janiero was recently dropped from the calendar, so the tenth city has yet to be confirmed.

Each race will be about 45 minutes long, each driver will have two cars – due to battery technology limitations – and the team with the most social media popularity that month will get a ‘fan boost’ points advantage. All races will take place in an urban environment.

Mark Preston, team principal of Japanese team Super Aguri, commented: “If every race can be like Monaco, then it’s going to be amazing.”

The principality, located south-east of the French Alps, is hosting Round Eight of the series in May 2015.

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