MOTORSPORTIMAGES/ANDREPIT + PADDOCK6 AUTOSPORT.COM 1 AUGUST 2019FORMULA EWork on the new ABB FIA Formula E track
at the ExCeL London is already underway,
with the championship counting down the
days until it returns to the British capital.
After scouring 14 potential locations
for a London race – an event FE has long
wanted to return to its calendar after it
was forced to leave Battersea Park at the
end of its 2015/16 season – FE settledon ExCeL in London’s Docklands.
“[ExCeL] just gives us – from an
operational point of view – a lot more
security, safety and opportunity as well,”
said FE senior event manager Oli McCrudden.
“We studied everything from RAF
Northolt to Crystal Palace – we thought
about maybe trying to revive that – up to
Ally Pally and various other places and
other parks. But every time we came back
to the benefi ts of coming to a venue here.”FORMULA 1Alain Prost has taken a more
formal role with the Renault
Formula 1 operation by
becoming a non-executive
director of the UK company
behind the race team.
Last month, he was made
a member of the board of
Renault Sport Racing Ltd- a direct replacement for
Renault Group executive
Thierry Bollore.
The move gives Prost
a post similar to that
which Niki Lauda held as
a non-executive director
of Mercedes Grand Prix.
Bollore has left his role
with the Renault F1 squad
as he has taken on extra
responsibilities as the
Renault Group CEO
following Carlos Ghosn’s
controversial resignation.
Prost has been an advisor
to Renault’s F1 project since
it took over the former
Lotus team in 2015.It is unclear whether his
new role will require any
changes in his day-to-day
contribution to the running
of the team.
The other directors of
Renault Sport Racing Ltd
are team principal and
managing director Cyril
Abiteboul, company
president Jerome Stoll,
Renault Group fi nancial
chief Thierry Cognet and
Genii boss Gerard Lopez.
ADAM COOPERProst appointed non-executive Renault director
Jaguar FE team principal James Barclay
and Nissan e.dams driver Oliver Rowland
attended a launch event at the ExCeL last
week to mark a year until the fi rst race on
25-26 July 2020, with a permanent stand
advertising the race now installed at the
building’s entrance.
The 1.5-mile track features an indoor/
outdoor layout, with the fi nish straight,
as well as the initial and concluding
corners, housed in the ExCeL’s south hall.
The rest of the circuit will run around the
perimeter roads, using two steep access
ramps to connect the circuit’s upper
and lower levels.
FE is carrying out work to make sure the
cars can get traction on the indoor section
and avoid the situation faced by the Toyota
TF105 Formula 1 car, which could not
reach its top speed while on the painted
stretched-concrete fl ooring at the ExCeL
during a run through the building that was
fi lmed for the Top Gear TV show in 2006.
FE is removing a small layer of the
existing surface and installing a special
paint to chemically bond with the fl oor to
ensure traction while not disrupting other
ExCeL events in the hall with a raised track.
The race is expected to have seats for
15,000 spectators around the indoor section- with additional grandstands being
considered for the outer areas of the track.
“It will be a cross between a boxing
match and a Top Gear Live sort of thing,”
said McCrudden.
ALEX KALINAUCKAS
Work ExCelerates in
London as FE prepares
to dock in the UK
GRIFFITHS