Round Nine of the 2014/2015 FIA Formula E Championship took teams to the streets of Moscow after the extremely abrasive concrete taxiways of Berlin’s former Berlin-Tempelhof Airport on May 23.
Fine weather attracted a big crowd to the Russian capital’s famous Red Square, a setting which largely contributed to the success of Moscow’s first ePrix.
The layout of the track received positive praise from the drivers and played a role in the race’s magic, too. Imperfections are part and parcel of street venues and add not only to the show, but also to the challenge faced by the drivers, cars and tires.
The varying grades of asphalt encountered in Moscow, not to mention the scars of repairs, sometimes on the racing line, painted road markings and drain covers all added to the complexity of their respective missions. The situation wasn’t helped by the hilly, bumpy track, but the teams’ MICHELIN Pilot Sport EV tires produced yet another polished performance.
“The track in Moscow formed a patchwork of the different surfaces we have come across since the beginning of the championship, although it was perhaps more like Miami than anywhere else,” observed Serge GRISIN, manager of Michelin’s Formula E programme. “The road markings, patches of repaired asphalt, surface changes and drain covers really called for a tire that was not only competitive but also strong. The MICHELIN Pilot Sport EV gave further evidence of its ability and the technical data we bring back from the Moscow ePrix tend to confirm the sensation we have had all season that its specification is a match for the job.”
The performance and strength of the MICHELIN Pilot Sport EV is also why the drivers feel confident in their tires which leave them free to focus one hundred percent on racing, whatever the temperature, type of ground, humidity level and other difficulties associated with competing on roads that are used by heavy traffic the remainder of the year.
It is important to recall that the Michelin Pilot Sport EV was designed especially for the Formula E Championship and fits perfectly with MICHELIN’s approach to research and development, an approach which consists in testing new technologies in motorsport before later carrying them over to mass-produced road tires.
The last two races of the inaugural Formula E calendar will both take place in London on the same weekend: June 27 and June 28, 2015.
The MICHELIN Pilot Sport EV tire, which was designed especially for the Formula E Championship, has a number of special features:
Ø Size: the interior diameter of 18 inches is comparable with that used by many road cars and this promises to facilitate and speed up the carry-over of technology from the race track to the street. Formula E is the first FIA-sanctioned single-seater racing series to use tires of this size.
Ø Tread: like a road-going sports tire, and even though it was designed for racing, the MICHELIN Pilot Sport EV features a tread pattern that allows it to race in Formula E in all weather conditions.
Longevity: the cars are only authorised to use a single set of tires for free practice, qualifying and the race itself. Permitted spares are carried over from the previous race to minimise the number of tires that need to be made and shipped.
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