After the “excitement” of last night, we are moving a little slow this morning. Judy leaves around 9:30 to run some errands. I’ve been seeing ads around town for the FORMULA E GRAND PRIX, here in Beijing. Formula E cars are electric, thus the “E”, and this is a completely new racing circuit with 10 teams, each with 2 drivers. There are 10 races scheduled throughout the world (Rome, London, Miami, etc.) They race around the streets like the Formula 1 circuit, and Beijing is the “Debut” of the circuit.
The race is today, and the cars are running around the National Stadium (Birdcage) and the Water Cube from the Beijing Olympics. How can I miss this? I take the train over to check if tickets are still available. I’m not sure about the schedule, but something I’ve seen mentioned qualifying laps scheduled for noon.
When I get off the train and come up out of the station, there are a few ticket scalpers around. I check out some prices and the quality of the ticket they’re trying to sell. Several of the tickets look genuine. I eventually buy a 488rmb ticket for 400rmb, and it actually gets me in. Although the signs for the grandstands are not easy to find, I finally find my seat in the grandstand. Qualifying races are running, so the stands aren’t too full.
The qualifying races finish at 1:00 pm, and there are autograph sessions and several VIP activities on the schedule. Without a VIP pass, I’m not going anywhere, so I find some shade and a bench and get ready to kill 3 hours. The actual race doesn’t begin until 4:00.
I get bored around 2:30 and start nosing around, finding the pit area. I don’t have access to the pits, but the back of the pits is only blocked by low fences, so I have a fun watching the drivers and their teams relaxing before the race under the shade of the trees. It’s a beautiful day, and the shaded areas are really comfortable.
One of the drivers for the Amlin team
One of the China Racing Team drivers
VIDEO LINK FOR THE RACE START
https://www.dropbox.com/s/3qgkk4gvtwjd5d2/14.9.13.Race%20beginning.MOV?dl=0
VIDEO LINK AS THE RACE CONTINUES
https://www.dropbox.com/s/m5e4c9k8sh6475h/14.9.13.Race%20continues.MOV?dl=0
VIDEO LINK OF THE CAR SWAP
https://www.dropbox.com/s/vb8tw9y7q1jajvc/14.9.13.Race.Car%20swap.MOV?dl=0
As the race activities ramp up to the start, I head back to the grandstand, find my seat, and get ready for racing. The format for the race is a one-hour race with each driver changing cars somewhere around the midpoint of the race. The batteries in the cars won’t last a whole hour, so the car swap in the pits is an important aspect of the race strategy. The race is fun to watch. The E cars have a much different sound than Formula 1, Indy, or NASCAR. I’ve got a decent view of Turn #1. Most of the non-racing team members are seated around me. The race ends with the 1st and 2nd place cars crashing on the final turn as they jockeyed for position. One of the cars flipped.
The “Birdcage” as I was leaving.
Check out the length of the security line for people trying to enter the Olympic Park Area. This had nothing to do with the race. It was just bag-scanning for anyone sight-seeing in the area.