Fanboost: more than just a gimmick?

Snorts of derision greeted the announcement that the FIA Formula E championship would be awarding a 5-second ‘power boost’ at every race to the three drivers who received the most fan votes on social media. ‘How could any racing series dictated by a popularity contest possibly hope be taken seriously?’ asked the sceptics. 

Even those prepared to accept the mid-race car swap – a corollary of the limitations of current technology – were apprehensive. Would unprecedented involvement from the fans in deciding the outcome instead achieve the opposite effect and detract from the winner’s achievement? Could the system be corrupted by teams with larger marketing budgets? Certainly, Fanboost would have a lot of burning questions to answer.

So how then did Fanboost go from being used as a stick to beat the series with to an established part of the furniture in such a short period of time? And was it a coincidence that Formula E’s inaugural champion – NEXTEV TCR’s Nelson Piquet Jr. – also won the most Fanboosts?

Modest beginnings

Fanboost didn’t exactly set the world alight at the inaugural race in Beijing. Although Lucas di Grassi won – thanks to the final corner altercation between Nico Prost and Nick Heidfeld – concerns over energy management meant he didn’t use his allotted boost. It was a similar story for Katherine Legge, who finished 15^th, while Bruno Senna didn’t get beyond the first lap after brushing the wall.

di Grassi won in Beijing, but didn't use his allotted Fanboost (FIA Formula E).

Having had no bearing on the outcome of the race in China, Fanboost usage was made compulsory for the second round in Putrajaya, where we saw the first fan-assisted overtake. Fittingly for such a pivotal moment in the series’ short history, it assisted Senna’s move on Prost for fourth, although the Brazilian would later crash out. Heidfeld was also awarded Fanboost – the German’s first of three on the trot – after a fan’s initiative to help recover the points lost at Beijing. The luckless Venturi driver was thwarted by a robust move from Franck Montagny – later banned for failing a random drugs test – but would recover to finish in the top ten at Punta del Este and Buenos Aires.  

Championship newcomers Jean-Eric Vergne and Salvador Duran were Fanboost winners in Uruguay, alongside Heidfeld. With a point to prove after being dropped by the Toro Rosso Formula One team, Vergne blitzed qualifying to take pole position, but showed his inexperience with energy management as he was forced to pit early. That handed Sebastien Buemi a lead he would hold to the finish, while Vergne retired from second with broken suspension. The Frenchman’s impressive showing helped convince fans to reward him with Fanboost at the next four races, peaking with a second at Long Beach.

Evolution

As the regular frontrunners began to establish themselves, voting trends gradually began to shift away from popular underdogs Legge and Duran to the genuine contenders, with Piquet, Vergne and Malaysia winner Sam Bird winning the Fanboost for round six at Long Beach.

Piquet was a hit with the fans in season one (FIA Formula E).

Piquet had gone firmly under the radar in pre-season, but marked himself out as one to watch with a strong race in Putrajaya – until Jarno Trulli’s untimely intervention broke his suspension – and two podiums on the bounce in South America. Following a fifth place in Miami, Piquet was brimming with confidence at the circuit where his father had won in Formula One 35 years before and leapt from third to the lead at turn one on the opening lap. From thereon he was never challenged, taking his first win of the season, although his dominance effectively rendered the Fanboost void.

The twisty confines of Monaco demonstrated a further, more strategic use of Fanboost. Once again Vergne came out on top in the social media ballot, but didn’t help his cause by qualifying deep in the field, leaving himself vulnerable to any first lap fracas – a common by-product of the principality’s very narrow streets. Sure enough, Daniel Abt was squeezed into the wall in turn two and rammed from behind by Senna, leaving the cars following behind nowhere to go. With broken suspension, Vergne did well just to make it back to the pits, but knowing his chances of completing the race with the usable energy remaining in his second car were next to naught, decided to change tact and used his Fanboost to set Fastest Lap.

This didn’t go unnoticed by the rest of the field. At the following two rounds in Berlin and Moscow, first Piquet, then Buemi opted to use their Fanboosts to secure the two additional points on offer for Fastest Lap, rather than save them for an overtaking opportunity. With a just five points between the two championship contenders coming into the final race in London’s Battersea Park – another circuit where overtaking opportunities would be at a premium – both men would have Fanboost, setting up a fascinating duel for Fastest Lap. 

Buemi missed out on the title in London, but the Swiss was the
one smiling when he returned to Beijing (FIA Formula E).

Buemi held the initial advantage, before his time was bettered by Oliver Turvey – another Fanboost winner – and again by Bird. Piquet put in a lap just 0.057 slower than the Virgin driver with two laps to go, but with Buemi stuck behind Senna and powerless to improve, seventh was enough to deliver him the title by a single point.

Assessing impact

Of the 35 that competed in Formula E’s inaugural season, a total of 12 different drivers won Fanboost, two of whom – Turvey and Sakon Yamamoto – appeared only in London. Of those 12, Piquet enjoyed the greatest success with Fanboost, winning two of the six races he was eligible to use it, yet he would more than likely have won both regardless. Mercifully, Fanboost was not so overbearing that those without it could not compete – race-winners Antonio Felix da Costa, Prost and Jerome d’Ambrosio didn’t win a Fanboost between them all season, while all three of Buemi’s wins came without Fanboost assistance – but achieved what it originally set out to by involving the fans in a way no other series can offer, without damaging the integrity of the racing.

A minor facelift for Season Two sees more usable energy available in race-trim – up from 150kW to 170kW – and the introduction of in-race voting until six minutes in. Fanboost winners can now access an additional 100kJ of energy from the battery within a power window of 180kW to 200kW after changing over to their second cars, although with races set to be marginally elongated, its usage will require careful consideration.  

Much like the series that adopted it, perceptions of Fanboost have come a long way in the last 12 months. What could be next in Formula E’s little box of tricks?

Jota's misfortune sees Greaves take European Le Mans Series crown

On a difficult day for Jota Sport, second place proved to be enough for Jon Lancaster, Bjorn Wirdheim and Gary Hirsch to wrap up the 2015 European Le Mans Series for Greaves Motorsport as TDS by Thiriet took victory in a frantic final round at Estoril. Needing to win to keep their title hopes alive, Ludovic Badey and Pierre Thiriet – ably supported by new-signing Nicolas Lapierre – did everything that was required of them in changeable conditions, but knew from the start that their destiny was not in their own hands due to problems suffered at Paul Ricard.

Greaves celebrated second like never before at Estoril - it was
enough to give them the ELMS crown (Nick Dungan).

Starting tenth after Greaves' fastest qualifying time was deleted, Wirdheim had climbed to fifth by the end of lap one, taking full advantage of the slightly damp conditions which caused Tracy Krohn, Leo Roussell and James Winslow to all spin on cold tyres at the first corner. By the time Hirsch climbed aboard, he was third, which would soon become second when Jota’s Simon Dolan, running on slicks, fell victim to a heavy rain storm and floated off the road at Turn Two, losing a lap while he was recovered from the gravel.

Until that point, all looked to be going to plan for Jota. Local man Filipe Albuquerque earned the team an additional point for qualifying on pole and pulled out a half-minute lead over the chasing AF Racing BR01 of Victor Shaytar, who inherited second when Badey ran wide through the gravel at Turn Three. Despite struggling to fire up the Gibson when pulling away from the pits, Dolan was comfortably leading when the rain hit. Almost as swiftly as it came, the rain soon disappeared, but that was little consolation for the luckless Dolan, who now had an enormous mountain to climb.

Shaytar now led from Hirsch and Thiriet, with David Markozov in fourth and Dolan fifth. Thiriet was the first of the lead bunch to pit and switch back to slicks, which proved to be an inspired call, as the fresh rubber vaulted Lapierre into the lead while Greaves and Jota struggled on with intermediates that were on their last legs.

Harry Tincknell took over from Dolan for the final stint, but suffered an even longer delay restarting the car after the stop. With the red mist descending, the fired-up Brit stalked fourth-placed Nicolas Minassian and set the race’s fastest lap before gallantly pursuing Mikhail Aleshin, but the chase had taken the best from his tyres and could progress no further. With no more rain forthcoming, there would be no late surprises.

All went to plan for Jota at the start, but it wasn't to last (Nick Dungan).

None that would change the destiny of the championship, anyway. Despite having to serve a stop-go penalty when Hirsch was adjudged to have released his belts too early, Lancaster was able to resume with a comfortable gap over Aleshin and Tincknell and brought the car home to scenes of jubilation in the Greaves pit, eventually finishing two points ahead of TDS and four ahead of Jota.

Jota’s valiant fightback could only yield fourth place, leaving them to rue the 17 points lost for overrunning Albuquerque’s maximum drive time at Paul Ricard, while AF Racing brought their second car home fifth ahead of the Eurasia Motorsport Oreca 03R following oil pressure problems for Murphy Prototypes.

Elsewhere, a bold tyre gamble from Marc VDS payed dividends as the Belgian squad collected an emotional win in their final outing in GTE. Starting from the rear of the grid, Henry Hassid managed to evade the first corner chaos and moved into an early fourth place, remaining firmly in touch with the lead group headed by Rory Butcher’s JMW Ferrari until Andy Prialux took over at the first round of pitstops. As conditions deteriorated, Marc VDS kept Prialux out on slicks, which proved to be the right call as the track soon began to dry, leapfrogging the BMW Z4 – also in its final race before the M6 model is introduced next year – ahead of the wet-shod Beechdean Aston Martin of British GT champion Andrew Howard.

JMW had gone for a similar approach, but with the less experienced Rob Smith now at the wheel, Prialux was closing rapidly when a second shower hit, bringing both in. VDS took the opportunity to insert Jesse Krohn, who continued the pursuit of Smith until the Ferrari cried enough, transmission problems bringing James Calado to a grinding halt on his outlap.

Marc VDS made the best of the challenging conditions to take a farewell win (Nick Dungan).

JMW’s misfortune opened the door for Howard, Jonny Adam and Alex Macdowall to take a strong second place on their ELMS debuts, while Mike Wainwright, Phil Keen and Adam Carroll made their first podium visit since their victory at Silverstone in the Gulf Racing Porsche.  

Matt Griffin, Duncan Cameron and Aaron Scott were just too far back to influence proceedings in fourth, while a 20-second stop-go penalty for speeding in the pitlane couldn’t prevent Formula Racing’s Mikkel Mac, Johnny Laursen and Andrea Rizzoli wrapping up the title.

TDS enjoyed a double success at Estoril as Franck Perera, Eric Dermont and Dino Lunardi the GTC championship with a second place finish. The BMW enjoyed a terrific early battle for the lead with Salih Yoluc in the TF Sport Aston Martin – which had led in the early stages with Briton Euan Hankey – but served a stop-go for improving their times under yellow flags, eventually allowing Giorgio Roda, Marco Cioci and Ilya Melnikov through to win in their no. 63 AF Corse Ferrari.

With the championship already wrapped up by Charlie Robertson and Sir Chris Hoy at Paul Ricard, there wasn’t much to play for in LMP3, but Gaetan Paletou and Mike Simpson showed their pace at Paul Ricard was no flash in the pan with a first win of the season in the sister LNT Ginetta. Despite spinning on the warmup lap, the Graf Racing Ligier of Eric Troulliet, Thomas Accary and Britain’s Garry Findlay finished second on debut, with Robertson and Hoy completing the podium in third.

Butcher’s learning curve continues in Estoril

Rory Butcher is looking for further progress in Estoril after an impressive debut showing in the European Le Mans Series with JMW Motorsport at Paul Ricard. The British GT race-winner, who will share this weekend with Rob Smith and Ferrari factory driver James Calado, was delighted with a podium finish on his first outing in GTE, having worked his way past the struggling Porsches of Adam Carroll and Marco Mapelli in the closing stages, but knows he still has much to learn.

“I’d only done about eight laps in the car at Snetterton at the start of August and only received the news that I was going to be in the car about a week before the event, so it was quite exciting,” said the Silver-rated Scotsman, who had team-regular Jonny Cocker alongside to help bring him up to speed.

Butcher impressed on his debut at Paul Ricard (JWM Motorsport).

“It was my first time at Paul Ricard and I really enjoyed it, I really connected with the team and the car. JMW are a really professional squad and they prepare a very quick car, we just slogged it out all the way through the race and the team managed to put me in a position where I could secure a podium in that last stint. Credit to the engineers too because I only had 50 minutes to do on my stint so I knew I could push to that end, anything over that you’re going to be struggling with degradation and I could see the Porsches were struggling for tyre grip.

“It was a really nice feeling to prove that I could hold my own amongst that field, I really want to expand and do as much as I can to establish myself in Europe.”

Butcher recently added a tenth overall on his first start in the Blancpain Endurance Series, but found the step-up to GTE and multi-class racing an altogether different – and slightly addictive – proposition.  

“It was quite interesting,” he laughs. “The LMP2s were unbelievably quick cornering-wise and it could be a little bit frustrating in a straight line because coming onto the Mistral straight, they would initially pull away from you, but about 260 clicks you’d start to catch them back up and you would have to decide whether to pass them or back off and sit behind because they’re so much quicker through the corners. 

"Interesting," was British GT regilar Butcher's description of multi-class racing (JMW Motorsport)

"There would be moments when you would look in your mirrors and there would be nothing there, and you would arrive at the apex of turn nine and there’s an LMP2 up on the kerb shoving you wide! It’s just about managing that and being smart, knowing when to hold them behind you and when to let them by.

“I really enjoyed it, the car has more grip, mainly mechanical but also aero as well; it was nice to be able to carry more speed in towards the apex of the corners. It’s just a more thoroughbred racing car compared to the GT3 and it was quite refreshing not having ABS as well, I enjoyed going back to my roots which are all about having technique and feel for what the car is doing.”

JMW go into the season finale with a mathematical chance of the GTE championship, but with a 24-point deficit to make up, they will need to win with Formula Racing #60, Marc VDS #52, AF Corse #55 and Proton Competition #88 all failing to finish.

Mikkel Mac, Jonny Laursen and Andrea Rizzoli are overwhelming favourites following their Safety Car-assisted win in Paul Ricard, but will be mindful of the final-round heartbreak which befell season-long leaders Duncan Cameron and Matt Griffin last season, handing SMP racing the crown. In short, there is everything still to play for.

Tincknell: It’s all in our hands

Harry Tincknell is confident that the Jota Sport team will have enough in hand over the competition to seal the European Le Mans Series title at Estoril this weekend, despite the team’s setback at Paul Ricard.

In one fell swoop, Jota not only lost their hard-won victory to a post-race penalty applied for overrunning Filipe Albuquerque’s drive time, but gifted maximum points to their chief title rivals Greaves, who now go into the final round at Estoril just one point behind. 

This weekend is now-or-never time in Jota's ELMS title challenge (Jota Sport).

With TDS suffering brake problems at Paul Ricard, the French squad need a large slice of luck to fall their way at Estoril, effectively rendering the title battle a head-to-head showdown between the Jota and Greaves squads. But despite having won only once this season at the Red Bull Ring, the Jota-Gibson package has finished on the podium at every round, and it is this relentless consistency which Tincknell believes will give them the edge.

“The pole lap was probably one of the best I’ve ever done, we absolutely nailed the strategy in the race and I was just cruising around at the end thinking about what I was going to say on the podium, so it was obviously gutting to get the penalty; it was an honest mistake and definitely by leaving Filipe out it hindered us rather than helped us, but rules are rules,” he said.

“It’s a shame that we won’t go to Estoril with an 18 point lead, but we still go in there leading the championship, so it’s all in our hands and it’s a track that we know well. I think before we could finish fifth and win the championship whereas now we have to beat the other cars, but Estoril is a good track for us, we tested there at the start of the year and did well there last year, so there’s no reason why we can’t. It’s been a fantastic year for us, we’ve been on the podium every race, so we’ve just got to go and finish it off now, we’ve got one more race and we’ll see what happens.”

23-year-old Tincknell, who is also on Nissan’s factory roster and made his GT racing debut in the Blancpain Endurance Series at the Nurburgring, is open to the possibility of continuing with the team next year, but wants to end the season on a high if it does turn out to be their last together.

Albuquerque, Tincknell and Dolan hope to add to their
victory in Austria at the ELMS finale this weekend (Jota Sport).

“All of last year we were playing catch-up when we crashed out of the first race, whereas this year we’ve been really consistent, which has been massively important. I think along with Greaves and TDS we’ve been the stand-outs of the season, although the SMP cars have been getting stronger, so it will be interesting in the race.

“It’s been a fantastic championship and I’ve loved every second of it, I’m really enjoying driving with Jota and hopefully we can continue next season. We obviously won Le Mans last year which is the pinnacle of LMP2 racing and just missed out on the championship, so hopefully we can put that right this year – in two seasons to be a Le Mans winner and an ELMS champion would be absolutely awesome and it’s everything the team deserves. But we’ve just got to forget all that, it’s a one race shootout at Estoril, we’ve got to qualify well and get the race sorted.”