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Patrick Carpentier enjoys short outing in Formula E car
Monday afternoon, former IndyCar and NASCAR competitor Patrick Carpentier enjoyed a very short outing in a Formula E electric car.
René Fagnan
Edited: Oct 3, 2017, 1:42 AM
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Patrick Carpentier, who acted as the ambassador and spokesperson for the maiden Hydro-Québec Montréal ePrix last July, took part in the series’ official practice session held today on the Ricardo Tormo road course in Valencia, Spain.
Alejandro Agag, the CEO of the FIA Formula E Championship, had invited the Canadian to drive the car in a controlled environment. Most drivers of the series were in action today and Carpentier got his chance to drive the open wheel electric racer late in the afternoon.
“I think I got to drive eight or 10 laps in total. It was quite a long trip for such a short experience!” Carpentier told Motorsport.com.
“It was really great, however. I am honoured to have been invited to this test. I spoke at length with the people of the series today, and I was told that the test was never designed to give me a chance to prove myself and maybe get a full time drive in the series. It was more a way to say ‘thank you’ for my work to promote the Montréal race last summer,” Carpentier added.
The Canadian say he’s got now a much better understanding of the Formula E car.
“When I drove the car in Montréal, it was set in the qualifying mode,” Carpentier said. “But here, the car was set in the race mode. Driving the car is one thing, because it's well balanced and has good power, but understanding how to regenerate the energy, when to do it, and adapting your driving style to the car is a big challenge.”
Carpentier admits that getting used to the braking was the most disconcerting.
“The braking force applied to the rear wheel by the regen system is quite spectacular,” he told Motorsport.com “It’s a lot my powerful than what I expected. To find the right timing to brake and to keep the car properly balanced is really tricky. Driving this car on a slippery street course must be quite difficult because you have very little grip. It was a short, but great experience,” he concluded.
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