The Audi ABT Schaeffler team ended its Formula E journey with its first victory in Berlin, and Julius Seebach, general manager and racing manager of Audi Sports Co., Ltd., will lead the Audi "Dream Team" to the Dakar Rally in 2022.
Formula E is the first global championship of electric racing, which represents the development direction of the automobile industry in the future. The promotion and development mainly focus on the three cores of energy, environment and entertainment, which can accelerate the research and development of electric vehicles. The first race was held in Beijing on September 3, 20 14. Audi was the first German automobile manufacturer to join Formula E, and Audi driver Lucas Di Gracie was the champion of Formula E's first race.
From the first quarter to the third quarter of the 20 14 Electric Formula Competition, Audi strengthened cooperation in the form of financial and technical support, and increased its investment in Formula E. In the fourth quarter, Audi officially entered the competition for the first time in the name of the factory team-"Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler", becoming the first German automobile manufacturer to participate in Formula E, showing Audi's forward-looking insight into the future travel mode of electrification, and the enterprising spirit runs through it.
Back to the final victory of this season, Lucas di Grassi won Formula E's seventh season in Mexico and Berlin by driving Audi e-tron FE07. This is also the title of 12 won by the Brazilian driver in Formula E. In addition, teammate René Raster also won the runner-up in Mexico for his outstanding performance. This German driver got extra points with the fastest lap time of 6 laps this season, and became the most successful Formula E rookie driver in this scoring project so far.
Nick Cassidy and Robin Frigins, two drivers of Audi customer team Envision Virgin Racing, drove the Audi e-tron FE07, winning two fastest laps, three pole positions and five podium honors this season.
In the farewell battle of Audi Formula E, René Raster started from the pit and won the ninth place. Lucas di Gracie was sent off for crossing the pit and won the twentieth place. "In qualifying, I was one tenth of a second behind the super pole," said Lucas Di Gracie. "The competition in Formula E is as fierce as ever, but this time the tension is unprecedented." The Brazilian driver missed the pole race and started from 17.
Lucas di Grassi and René Hong Lin completed the seventh season of the f 1 drivers' championship. Audi Sports ABT Schaeffler team finally ranked fourth in the team standings. Audi's customer team Envision Virgin Racing ranked fifth in the team standings, while Robin Friggins and Nick Cassidy ranked fifth and fifteenth respectively in the drivers standings.
Julius Seebach, general manager and head of racing car of Audi Sports Co., Ltd. said, "ABT Schaeffler of Audi Sports is undoubtedly the most successful Formula E team and the forerunner of this series of events. Now, we will strive to challenge the most difficult project in the racing industry-Dakar Rally. "
Judging from the first race of 20 14 Beijing Bird's Nest Circuit, Formula E can be said to be one of the fastest developing races at present. Of the 12 teams that participated in the 2020/2 1 season, 8 were manufacturers' teams, including Audi, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche.
Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler has proved that they are the most successful Formula E team in the past seven years. The team scored 65,438+0,380 points in 84 races, won the championship of 65,438+04 sub-races, and reached the podium 47 times. Lucas di Gracie won the drivers' annual championship in 20 16/20 17 season. In the 20 17/20 18 season, Audi ABT Schaeffler team participated as a factory team for the first time and won the annual championship honor of the team.
Different from other racing events, Formula E team uses uniform body, appearance, front suspension and battery as standard components, while the electric powertrain composed of MGU power unit, transmission and rear suspension is freely developed and designed by registered manufacturers. In other words, all manufacturers will take the efficiency of power system as the core research and development goal, which is also the original intention of Formula E, and use competition to improve the development of electric technology.
In 2020/2 1 season, Audi team used the brand-new Audi e-tron FE07 car. Although the new racing car follows the second generation racing platform, the power system is a brand-new and constantly optimized MGU unit-Audi MGU05, which was developed by Audi Sports ABT Schaeffler and its technical partners. This 250kW motor module is independently developed by Audi Sports. It is a single-speed electric drive system with an internal rotor, an external magnet, six items of electricity and an efficient cooling system. It's small and compact.
Audi MGU05 will be equipped in the innovative drive device of Dakar chariot, and the generator module will be installed on the front axle and rear axle of the vehicle to provide electric four-wheel drive. The weight of each generator set is less than 35 kg, but the power transmission efficiency is over 97%, which is close to the limit level. The third motor set will be connected with the high-efficiency TFSI engine to realize energy conversion and charge the high-voltage battery when the vehicle is running.
From the appearance, the Audi RS Q e-tron is also very different from the traditional Dakar prototype. Juan Manuel Diaz, head of Audi's racing design team, said: "This car looks very futuristic and has many typical design elements of Audi."
For the complicated road conditions in Dakar, although the Audi RS Q e-tron has only one forward gear and the front and rear axles are not mechanically connected, the software developed by Audi takes over the torque distribution between the axles, thus creating a virtual and freely configurable central differential, which has the positive side effect of saving the weight and space required by the transmission shaft and the mechanical differential.
As the first big-name manufacturer to participate in Dakar with new energy racing cars, Audi's driver lineup is still strong: Carlos sainz (father of two-time WRC champion and three-time Dakar champion, F 1 driver George W. sainz); Stéphane Peterhansel (Dakar has won six motorcycle and eight car championships). By then, this three-car team will be managed by Sven Quandt, who has successfully led the X-Raid team to win five Dakar Rallies.
Summary: Through the precipitation of Equation E in the past seven seasons, Audi has achieved more than 97% system efficiency in the electric equation, and tapped the development potential of electric parts. Moving to the complex Dakar is not only for further research and development of battery and energy management, but also for accumulating valuable experience for future electrified product models.