Dario Franchitti atop a Formula E racer in Moscow.
On tap this week:
- Formula E needs more zing
- Ricciardo holds his tongue
- Mercedes looking for pole record
- Tagliani shows off
- Quote of the Week: Räikkönen on his Austrian Grand Prix exit
- Wickens hopes for more
Billed as a series that would change auto racing, the all-electric Formula E simply hasn't captured the imagination of racing fans.
With one-day events making it challenging to create lots of buzz, maybe Formula E just needs a bit more time to build a following.
"It's still finding its feet," said former IndyCar driver Dario Franchitti, the racing expert on Formula E broadcasts.
"They are doing a different take on things – it's a one-day show so they can get access to places they might not otherwise get. They are certainly in the building process for the series and I think there will be more interest next year when you have the motors open to different manufacturers."
Formula E's inaugural season wraps up on Sunday with Rounds 10 and 11 taking place on a 17-turn, 2.922-kilometre track in London's Battersea Park.
While it may not have clicked with race fans, Formula E certainly rekindled Franchitti's excitement about driving after he took a spin in the all-electric car during its stop in Moscow earlier this month.
The four-time IndyCar champion and three-time Indianapolis 500 winner had previously insisted he didn't miss driving after he was forced to retire following a concussion suffered in an accident in 2013.
"I got in it and thought, 'Okay, sure.' When I got to full power, I was really fighting the instinct to go really quick," he said.
"I would have said before that I didn't miss it, but I really got a buzz out of it. It would be fun to have a wee play an IndyCar somewhere like Toronto or other tracks I love like Mid-Ohio (Sports Car Course) or Sonoma (Calif.). But I wouldn't want to do a whole race because it would mean that I would have to get back into shape."
Random Thoughts: Two weeks ago at the Canadian Grand Prix, Red Bull Racing's Daniel Ricciardo did something that Formula One drivers rarely do: He showed raw emotion. The always smiling Australian essentially told reporters in Montreal that he'd "try to have fun" at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve despite the crappy car he had to drive. Fans may have loved the refreshing and honest words, but it seems they're not going to hear any more candour from Ricciardo who appears to have been snapped back into line by the team. "I have learned from what happened in Canada," the 25-year-old said during the Austrian Grand Prix on the weekend. "I analyzed what went on, my reaction, and I know I have to lower my expectations."
By the Numbers: Although Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix marked the 19th consecutive race that a Mercedes driver started at the front of the Formula One field, the team still needs five more straight poles to equal the record of 24 held by Williams. That streak began with Nigel Mansell's pole in the 1992 French Grand Prix and ended with Alain Prost topping qualifying for the 1993 Japanese Grand Prix. Should this year's Mercedes team keep up its qualifying success, it will set the new mark at Japan's Suzuka Circuit in September. Coincidentally, Mercedes also needs six more consecutive wins to break the record of 11 set by the McLaren duo of Prost and Ayrton Senna in 1988.
Technically Speaking: When do you know you've done everything right in a race? How about when you lap the entire field, a feat NASCAR Canadian Tire Series driver Alex Tagliani accomplished Saturday night inaugural Leland Industries 300 at Sunset Speedway near Barrie, Ont. Driving his No 18 EpiPen/CGI/CanTorque Chevrolet, the Lachenaie, Que., native became the first driver in Canadian Tire Series history to win by a full lap after taking the lead at about one-third distance and never looking back. "I can't remember the last time I have felt so good on a race track," Tagliani said.
Quote of the Week: "I don't know exactly what happened before the crash, I had some wheel spin in an unusual place. I was at a quite high speed, suddenly went left and end up there. I did not see anything coming, everything happened very quickly."
– Kimi Räikkönen, describing a first-lap accident in the Austrian Grand Prix where he lost control under acceleration and collected McLaren's Fernando Alonso. The crash ended with the both cars jammed into a barrier, with the McLaren coming to rest atop of Räikkönen's Ferrari.
The Last Word: With the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Series (DTM) heading into its third weekend of 2015, Canada's Robert Wickens hopes to turn around the season at a Norisring track where he is the defending race winner. Both Mercedes and BMW found themselves on their back feet in the first two DTM weekends where rival Audi held an upper hand and easily swept all four races. DTM runs two events per race weekend. "Norisring has been a special track for us, even last year as disastrous as it was for us we were still the dominant manufacturer there and for whatever reason I am pretty quick around there," said the 25-year-old from Guelph, Ont., whose best result so far this year is a sixth. "This definitely isn't where we wanted to be: Everyone worked hard over the winter and pre-season looked promising and then suddenly we were far behind. We just have to go over everything and leave no stone unturned and hopefully we can find some performance for the rest of the season."
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Jeff Pappone