Renault successfully opened a new chapter in the history of the Brand on the streets of Beijing in September.
After the hugely successful opening round in Beijing, the FIA Formula E Championship heads for Malaysia this weekend. For the second ever ePrix, the 40 Spark-Renault SRT_01E single-seaters entered will battle it out on the streets of Putrajaya, known as the “World’s First Intelligent Garden City”, on Saturday, 22 November.
A pioneer in motorsport, sustainable mobility and track-to-road technology transfers for the last 115 years, Renault successfully opened a new chapter in the history of the Brand on the streets of Beijing in September.
Involved in the project since its inception in 2012, the Renault Sport teams saw their work come to life in China. With the technical solutions confirmed in terms of their reliability, safety and performance, the aim is to keep the momentum gathered at the opening round going on the streets of Putrajaya.
Planned as a sustainable city, almost half of the surface area of Malaysia’s administrative centre is given over to green spaces and it boasts one of the largest artificial lakes in the world, which the competitors will drive alongside on the 2.5-kilometre long circuit. Putrajaya is one of the first cities to have developed an all-electric car sharing programme, in which the Renault vehicles Twizy and Zoé are included.
Electrifying the track
In the midst of this intense sporting programme, in which practice, qualifying and the race will all be held on the same day, Renault will electrify the track before the start of the race with a show demonstrating the qualities of Zoé and Twizy, the flagship models of Renault’s Z.E. range. Ever committed to bringing the action closer to the public, Renault will also offer spectators the chance to try out these vehicles in the eVillage.
Offering a new challenge to the dynamic qualities of the Spark-Renault SRT01_E single-seaters, the Putrajaya circuit features twelve turns, including several high-speed corners and a tight hairpin. Split by the first-corner chicane, the start-finish straight will provide one of the most spectacular parts of the circuit. Slipstreaming is expected to play an important role in overtaking and in managing energy throughout the race distance of 31 laps.
“After a very successful opening round, we head for Malaysia looking to confirm our technical solutions,” stated Roberto Dlacic, Renault Sport Technologies Engineer assigned to the FIA Formula E Championship. “Our goals are unchanged: provide the teams with a single-seater that is increasingly reliable, safe and fast, whilst ensuring absolute fairness for the teams as well. We have, for example, reinforced the gearbox installation in order to meet the specific challenges posed by city-centre circuits more effectively. We will also be looking at the performances achieved on this circuit, which is very different to Beijing in terms of the lateral forces placed on the powertrain.”
