Porsche wins In capetown

I was down in South Africa when the 5th round of the E Grand Prix was be held in Cape Town on the 25th of February. With a bit of luck…. Well it’s not what you know, but who you know! …..I received an invite (& guest) to the VIP lounge to watch the race – What an experience!

The track was scenically set, once around the Green Point stadium, against the backdrop of Table Mountain. The 2.9km track saw top speeds almost at 240km/h. Lap times a shade over 1 minute for an average speed of ~160km/h.

My old motorcycle friend Andrew accompanied me – we completed the on-line forms and took the safety test in order to receive our accreditation. A few days before the race I went in to collect our tags, access and parking pass. In order to avoid traffic we took the motorcycle - lane splitting is legal here, so no problem to cut through traffic. It was great to be waved onto the closed roads and ride right up to the track and leave the motorcycle in the guarded VIP parking lot.

A short walk took us to the track and we explored a bit. Cars were on the track, but they are lower than the concrete barriers, so you can only hear them whistle past. So we headed on over to the “E Park”, where all sorts of electric bicycles, scooters, motorcycles and cars were on display. They even had a short test loop where you could take an e-car for a short drive. A really great add-on to an event like this.

It was then time to check in to the Boss / E Motion hospitality tent. Well it was more than just a tent – a real sturdy large 2 story air conditioned building. ….and here you can get all the food and drink you might want. By my estimation there were near a thousand people in the hospitality tent, multiple bars and the food just kept coming!

Mid way through the morning we were taken to the pit lane for a walk through. Teams were charging the cars and repairing any morning accident damage – the Jaguar needed a total rebuild. Everything was very neatly laid out and well organised. The entire pit building structure is moved by the organisers from race to race. I was able to chat to the Porsche guys about the Gen3 drive train: Now equipped with a motor on front and rear: the rear is used for propulsion, the front for regenerative braking – all braking is now done by regen. Unfortunately this stiffens up the steering under braking.

There is a relatively long gap between the morning timed practice 12:00 and the race at 16:00 – allowing the cars to charge. At 15:30 we all went down to walk in between the cars as they waited on the grid. How often do you get to do that?

The race got underway just past 4pm and there was disappointment on the opening lap as the championship leader, Pascal Wehrlein in the Porsche, went out.

As the race progressed we were treated to a great duel between Jean-Eric Vergne (Penske) and Antonio Felix Da Costa (Porsche). They came up from mid field and swapped positions. Verne led until 2 laps before the end, when Da Costa pulled off a stunning high speed overtaking manoeuver and held off Verne to the flag.

The party in the hospitality tent carried on for a while and eventually folks drifted out. A great opportunity to see a race and the cars from close up. Now whilst I like the sound of a howling 12 cylinder race car, I must say that the relative silence of the electric cars certainly allows you to hear the commentator much better! The electric motor emits a typical