MARKE CHARGING UP THE
MARKE CHARGING UP THE GRID Jason Barlow takes a detailed look behind the scenes of the week leading up to the Mexico City Formula E race to uncover how teamwork and detailed preparation are helping build Panasonic Jaguar Racing’s momentum PHOTOGRAPHY: LKJDÄLKJDF KJLÄKJ ÖÄÖK ; DFÄÖLKJÄLKDJ ÖÄDFÖÄ (2) 36 THE JAGUAR
Mexico City’s Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez race track sits an impressive 2,240m (7,340ft) above sea level, weaving its way for a 2.1km stretch running through one of the many parks that enlivens a mega-city heaving with 22 million inhabitants. A staggering 3.5 million cars are on the city’s roads during rush hour, which can lead to serious travel paralysis, but nothing is left to chance as far as the Panasonic Jaguar Racing Team is concerned. On the contrary, the team’s schedule for the week leading up to an event like the Mexico City race is worked out with military precision. It kicks off on Wednesday at midday, as the support crew gain first access to the garage to unpack the freight, while race engineers and mechanics have the first of many briefings needed to bring the full team up to speed when arriving at a new racing destination. Join us as we take an exclusive look at the preparation taking place on and off the tracks. PHOTOGRAPHY: LAT PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTOGRAPHY: LKJDÄLKJDF KJLÄKJ ÖÄÖK ; DFÄÖLKJÄLKDJ ÖÄDFÖÄ (2) DOING THEIR HOMEWORK Mexico City itself creates unique challenges, as Jaguar driver Adam Carroll reveals: “We race in some very hot places, so some heat sessions in a hot room are important preparation. For the Mexico race we also did some additional altitude preparation with the team at Loughborough University - that helped me improving my cardio vascular heart rate.” Further extensive research and prep is carried out before the team even leaves its UK HQ. Carroll’s race engineer, Patrick Coorey explains: “If we’re racing at a new track we start to get information such as CAD drawings about four weeks before. Our first look is usually a detailed driving simulation map. We use this to simulate different options to learn the characteristics of the track, and compare it to other known tracks. We want to find the most efficient way of using and harvesting the energy over a lap.” It doesn’t stop there, though. “As we haven’t driven the circuits before, we look for differences from our simulations as soon as we can after we arrive on Wednesday,” adds Carroll. “Smaller holes or bumps can only be identified once we’re actually there, so we need to know the track first-hand.” Feet on the ground: Race engineer Patrick Coorey (above, right) and the team take a closer look at the Mexico City circuit. When preparing for a race, nothing can be left to chance THE JAGUAR 37
