Preview: The Buenos Aires ePrix

Another year – another fixture! The FIA Formula E will kick off the 2016 motor racing year in Argentina. Race organizers could have hardly picked a better place for the fourth of this season’s eleven races in the electric-powered racing series – Buenos Aires – which, of course‚ literally means ‘good air’ in English!

This will be the second time that FIA Formula E has raced in the Argentine capital, where old and new sit side by side. Buenos Aires is what is known as a megacity and will definitely provide a stunning backdrop to the race weekend. More than ten million people live in the area, making Buenos Aires one of the 28 biggest metropolises in the world. 

The FIA Formula E will again remain faithful to its principles by bringing motor racing directly to the people! The popular trendy district of Puerto Madero along the Rio de la Plata will serve as the venue in Buenos Aires. Its iconic skyscrapers towering 50 floors high will provide a breathtaking panorama when drivers race at full throttle around the 2.479-km track.

The circuit set in the middle of the Parque Micaela Bastidas has twelve turns with a challenging mix of fast sections and slow hairpins. This is the fourth round, and Buenos Aires is the fourth-fastest track on the entire race calendar. 

Last year’s winner Antonio Felix Da Costa told us that spectators can again expect to see an exciting race: “The country is steeped in motor racing tradition. That is certainly a positive for Formula E, when we can bring racing directly to the streets. It’s very easy for people to get directly to the track and spectate. This was one of the best races last season as far as the fans and the track go.”

Can Felix Da Costa finish in front again? The Portuguese driver secured the first and only success for his Super Aguri team in Buenos Aires. Excitement aplenty is guaranteed in the Buenos Aires ePrix: Felix Da Costa won the fixture from the eighth slot on the grid – no race winner before him has ever started from a lower position. 

Sebastien Buemi and Lucas Di Grassi also intend to be contenders for the win. Both drivers have clearly put their stamp on the season so far. Buemi leads the overall standings from di Grassi by just one point. The two drivers have each racked up more than twice as many points as Jerome D’Ambrosio in third place.

Both Buemi and Di Grassi have produced strong performances across the two seasons. The top driver at Renault e.dams finished in the points in all of the last nine races and picked up extra points for the fastest lap in all three races this year. Title rival Di Grassi secured a podium in each of the last six races. 

“Fans can again look forward to an extremely close championship this season where every detail is crucial, so we’ll have to be mega focused,” said the Brazilian driver from Team ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport. His rival, Buemi, won both the season opener in Beijing and the last race in Punta del Este, but can the Swiss driver tango his way to victory on Saturday in Buenos Aires?