#normally it takes me max 20 minutes per cage

[1spooky-dad]

Someone decided that the best way to help mitigate ADHD was to remember to take a little pill every day, and that person was the devil himself

[jeromehoward]

There were several references used to compile these instrument descriptions.

There were several references used to compile these instrument descriptions. At the hotel, Peyman tells Carina she's surrounded. The Lyseni loved bright hues, and Salladhor Saan was the most colorful of all. Now Tyrion was promising to pay the bearer one thousand golden dragons. When the opportunity to go cage diving to view Great White sharks presents itself, Kate jumps at the chance while Lisa takes some convincing. The Thenns had no family arms as was customary amongst the nobles of the Seven Kingdoms, so Jon told the stewards to improvise. Fourteen individuals made it to Ottawa to testify.. They provide goose fat, considered by some to be one of the highest class fats of all. 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Missandei and her brothers had been taken from their home on Naath by raiders from the Basilisk Isles and sold into slavery in Astapor. (And no, there's no cream in it.). They might even help us arrange passage back to the Seven Kingdoms. Paul Dobbins has had some interest on our building from his partner Grant. “This is my wedding day. Chauncey Billups was named MVP, but it was Wallace's dirty work in the post that paved the way to the championship. Some zip ties could certainly go some of the way towards cleaning up cabling, but there just nowhere to put the cables themselves. Let's say you open the Facebook app every morning and don't use it for the rest of the day. Go surfing Montana style at Brennan's Wave, a man made white water venue on the Clark Fork River in downtown Missoula. The queen walked on, clad only in gooseprickles and pride. 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It a hard investigation air max 90 ultra se and no matter what, they the department that going to find the girls killer, not us, not the media police.

[thesportssoundoff]

“It’s a makeshift card with interim titles and some damn good fights” UFC 236 preview

Joey

April 8th

What to call this card. Off the jump, let's be fair and point out that there are some damn good fights. The main card is really good with two superb (interim) title fights and some interesting fights at 205 lbs. The prelims feature no real names of note but there are some good fights featuring prospects as well as some fighters who hold some divisional relevance. We've even got a flyweight fight on the card! The problem is that like a large percentage of these are thrown together fights. That's probably due to the very blatant throw together vibe we have on this card. Most of these prelim fights (and maybe even a majority of these main card fights) are just there to fill spaces to keep the schedule going. That's not an awful thing because the matchmaking here is fine BUT it does create a sense of "Who cares?" That's made especially more blatant when you can look at May through July and see potentially some WORSE cards but cards with meaning behind them. What necessarily are the meaning to any of these fights outside of the two interims? Maybe I'm looking too deep on this bad boy and should just watch some fist fights. So let's watch some fist fights!

Fights: 13

Debuts:  Zelim Imadaev, Randy Costa, Boston Salmon

Fight Changes/Injury Cancellations: 1 (Paige Van Zant OUT,  Lauren Mueller IN vs Poliana Botelho)

Headliners (fighters who have either main evented or co-main evented shows in the UFC): 9 (Curtis Millender, Max Holloway, Dustin Poirier, Israel Adesanya, Ovince St. Preux,  Kelvin Gastelum, Eryk Anders, Nikita Krylov, Wilson Reis)

Fighters On Losing Streaks in the UFC: 3 (Brandon Davis, Eryk Anders, Max Griffin)

Fighters On Winning Streaks in the UFC: 5 (Israel Adesanya, Dustin Poirier, Max Holloway, Alexandre Pantoja, Kelvin Gastelum)

Main Card Record Since Jan 1st 2017 (in the UFC): 26-12 (3 NC)

Max Holloway- 3-0 Dustin Poirier- 4-0 (1 NC) Israel Adesanya- 5-0 Kelvin Gastelum- 2-1 (1 NC) Khalil Rountree- 3-1 (1 NC) Eryk Anders- 3-3 Alan Jouban- 1-2 Dwight Grant- 1-1 Nikita Krylov- 0-1 OSP- 4-3

Fights By Weight Class (yearly number here):

Welterweight- 3 (22) Light Heavyweight- 2 (13) Lightweight-  2 (20) Bantamweight- 2 (19) Women’s Flyweight- 1 (12) Flyweight- 1 (7) Featherweight- 1 (17)

Middleweight-  (10) Women’s Strawweight- (9) Heavyweight- (8) Women’s Bantamweight- (2)

2019’s Records We Keepin Track Of:

Debuting Fighters (9-17): Zelim Imadaev, Randy Costa, Boston Salmon

Short Notice Fighters (7-8): Lauren Mueller

Second Fight (23-5): Nikita Krylov, Khalid Taha

Cage Corrosion (Fighters who have not fought within a year of the date of the fight) (8-13): Alan Jouban

Undefeated Fighters (11-13):  Israel Adesanya, Zelim Imadaev and Randy Costa

Fighters with at least four fights in the UFC with 0 wins over competition still in the organization (5-5):

Weight Class Jumpers (Fighters competing outside of the weight class of their last fight even if they’re returning BACK to their “normal weight class”) (11-6): Eryk Anders, Poliana Botelho, Max Holloway and Brandon Davis

Twelve Precarious Ponderings

1- What changes if any will we see to the presentation for ESPN+'s PPV debut?

2- Isn't this one of those RARE times where an interim title makes sense? I know they're somewhat abused properties but let's be fair about this. The UFC can't go a full year without some sort of title defense at its deepest weight class (to the casual fan). You can't have 6-8 good lightweights all sitting around while waiting for Khabib to come back in September or October. A 12 month period without title defenses in my estimation should be large enough to open up the possibility of an interim title. The weirdness around the fight and getting to this point (It's potentially Conor vs Cowboy, no wait it's Poirier vs Ferguson, no wait it's Poirier vs Al, nope! It's gonna be Holloway vs Ferguson! Nope! Poirier vs Holloway it is!) can't be ignored either BUT this is a great fight. As for Adesanya vs Gastelum? The middleweight division is HOPING that Whittaker will be back in August. That gives you potentially 14 to 15 months without a title fight. Can't do that either.  The interim titles make some sense.

3- Is it fair to say that Israel Adesanya is the biggest example of how difficult it is to turn star qualities into star power?  If you tried to map out a guy who should be a big star, I'd imagine they'd have plenty of the traits Adesanya has but he's been pretty much an anti-draw throughout his tenure in the UFC. Maybe it's because he's weird and says stuff that makes it difficult to support him or who knows but this guy feels like sort of why the UFC probably felt comfortable cashing out with an ESPN+ PPV deal. He's probably never going to be a PPV mover so take the guaranteed cash since he's probably your "big" star going forward

4- So much has changed since the first Holloway vs Poirier fight but I wonder if there is SOME semblance of a mental edge knowing that you beat a guy once no matter how long ago it was. It's also 100% fair to say that while Holloway was super green, it wasn't like Poirier was a finished product either.

5- I feel no card shows the value of both the Contenders Series and the 205 lb division like this one does. The Contenders Series guys (like their TUF brethren before them) are used to pretty much fighting on anyc ard they can get themselves on. As such, you have guys like Jalin Turner, Dwight Grant, Montel Jackson and Lauren Mueller all competing on relatively short notice and getting right back in there. At 205, nothing matters and nobody is protective of an imaginary spot so you have a bunch of 205ers just sitting around waiting for the phone to ring.

6- I'd like to stick with Turner and Grant for a bit. Neither one was a heavily promoted fighter on the Contender Series and both got gigs off of violent finishes that showcased how raw and athletic they were. Like most Contenders Series guys, they were pretty much thrown on cards against proven familiar faces or middle of the pack fighters with the "If they win great! If they lose, oh well!" mentality. For instance, Jalin Turner made his debut on THREE weeks notice UP a weight class vs Vicente Luque. He had some moments but ultimately got boarded up by a really damn good welterweight. The rebound fight vs Callan Potter lasted under a minute as Turner got in, out and on with his life. Dwight Grant was tasked with facing Zack Ottow in his native Wisconsin and he lost a very close decision that in my opinion he should've won. He followed THAT up by facing and smelting Carlo Pedersoli and February. Guys like Turner and Grant sort of exemplify what the DWTCS has become; it's about talent accumulation with guys who may not be fundamentally sound but showcase the kind of traits that suggest they can be more than just reliable middle of the pack fighters. They could use a hand in the matchmaking department to help that pan out.

7- This is the FIRST UFC pay per view since UFC 230 in November to not have a WMMA fight on the main card and just the second PPV in the last ten events to not have a main card WMMA fight.

8- Israel Adesanya could be the second Nigerian born champion in UFC history and the second in as many months. It may not mean much for everybody but I appreciate it because it would show just how much this sport is growing.

9- I'd need somebody to convince me that Eryk Anders up 15 lbs isn't just going to be the same ultra patient stalking slopfester who refuses to commit to anything. Think we got enough of those guys at LHW.

10- Really excited about both of these bantamweight fights. Randy Costa is a promising East Coast talent at 135 lbs (seems like the UFC is loaded with those these days) and Brandon Davis is the sort of all action no defense fighter who can give a prospect some problems.

11- Gotta admit I feel pretty bad for Max Griffin. Even if his ultimate destiny was as the guy who would eventually just settle out as a fun action fighter, the loss to Curtis Millender was a momentum crusher in no small part due to Griffin folding after taking the first round. He followed that up by whooping up on Thiago Alves in a really fun fight only to get jobbed in my estimation on the cards. Now he's buried on the middle of the prelims facing a guy in his UFC debut.

12- It'd been a year and change so I forgive if you've forgotten but Boston Salmon was the FIRST signing of the DWTCS (in that he fought before anybody else who got signed). Salmon was a RFA/LFA product they were grooming FOR the UFC and so it's not a surprise he was on the debut show nor was it a surprise that he got signed. Injuries (Salmon fought on the Contender Series with a bad leg injury, pulled out of a few other opportunities due to it) stalled him up but he's here now. He'll kick off the main card vs Khalid Taha.

[jesusvasser]

Our Pro Racer Tests the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy Race Car

The introduction of the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy Championship occurred recently at the Silverstone motorsports complex, home of the Formula 1 British Grand Prix. Jaguar Racing director James Barclay was quick to reference Jaguar’s storied racing history, and my thoughts went immediately to the legendary Jaguar D-types from the 1950s. Jaguar much later dabbled in F1 in the early 2000s, in Prototype GT racing in the ’80s and ’90s, and nowadays we see the new F-Type SVR GT4 in competition. Jaguar officially entered into the Formula E fray for the series’ third season (2016/2017) with its I-Type2. (Formula E seasons normally begin in Asia around November.)

A handful of automotive companies are involved in racing almost permanently, some never. Jaguar is somewhere in the middle, and its in-and-out approach is linked more to sales and budget rather than to lack of corporate interest. Engineers, designers, and media folks don’t usually make decisions about racing, but the Jaguar team I met at Silverstone showed genuine enthusiasm for the new I-Pace racing endeavor, something that was great to see and hear. Indeed, recent signs have shown Jaguar walking the performance-marketing road again: In November 2017, a “near production”-spec (Jag’s words) XE SV Project 8 smashed the Nurburgring four-door saloon/sedan lap record with a 7-minute, 21.23-second time. That was 11 seconds quicker than the previous record holder, an Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio.

The weather was picture perfect as we arrived at Silverstone, where a tiny one-lane bridge led us over the F1 layout to the Stowe Circuit. Stowe lies completely inside the main F1 track and is used mostly for testing and tuning. It’s an interesting track, in a high-speed-autocross kind of way.

The main reason for being here was to drive the new I-Pace eTrophy electric race car. First, though, I climbed aboard an I-Pace street car for an interesting, gated-autocross-style exercise. An area the size of maybe half of a football field featured eight random gates denoted by cones. The cones flashed green (drive through) or blue (next gate to turn green), then red when the test was over. It was an exceptionally slow-speed course, but handily showed the I-Pace’s “right now” acceleration, braking, and excellent low-speed handling.

Really, though, we were here to better understand Jaguar’s involvement in electric racing. As you probably know, Formula E uses all-electric formula-style race cars, with events held on temporary city-street circuits. In 2018, New York was the only U.S. venue for a series that holds rounds on five continents. The argument in favor of Formula E is that it is directly relevant to the fast-growing trend toward all-electric vehicles. Several major automotive companies are players in Formula E; the series hoped to have four large corporate series sponsors by 2018 yet it already has 10. Six of those 10 are automobile manufacturers: Porsche, Mercedes, Audi, BMW, Renault, and Jaguar. ABB corporation, which specializes in fast-charging technology and recently signed on as title sponsor, has made the official series name the ABB FIA Formula E Championship.

Formula E’s second-generation race car is due next season; apparently it’s a major move forward in design, power, and handling. Also addressed was the present need for teams to utilize two cars during each race, due to battery-life limitations. The irony of this apparent inefficiency compared to the series’ desired “green” image was not lost on the organizers, so the new car will run entire races on one charge.

But those Formula E machines won’t be the only all-electric cars racing on the series’ event weekends. I would have loved to been in the Jaguar board meeting where somebody stood up with a straight face and suggested developing the I-Pace SUV into a race car—with its very own 20-car, I-Pace World Championship racing series. Yet here we are, at Silverstone with an I-Pace e Trophy race car. Jaguar made a three-year commitment to run the series alongside Formula E, and there will be 10 race weekends on the schedule for this season.

Jaguar will keep and maintain all 20 cars between events to ensure parity. It will also provide the crew and an engineer for each car/driver. The cost to run the series is around $600,000 per season, plus a $125,000 annual lease. A team can buy the car for $260,000, saving on extended lease costs. Crash damage incurs additional charges. This will essentially be an “arrive and drive” racing series.

The Jaguar race team worked with the FIA to set up I-Pace safety regulations. In the race car, a standard I-Pace battery pack is nestled inboard of the roll cage to better protect the pack from impacts. There are two isolator switches mounted in the center console, for separate battery shutdown in case of a crash. The race car uses the same 145-kW electric motors found in the street car; they produce the equivalent of 400 hp, driving all four wheels. The motors, along with the 90-kW battery pack, produce 500 amps of juice—you would not want a driver or emergency worker receiving a shock from that kind of power. To help with this, the I-Pace shows a green light front, rear, and on the center dash when there is no live power. If the car instead shows a red or blue light, there could be live electricity around the car. Emergency workers will carry specialized equipment to combat any crash-related issues that may involve electricity.

The interior reminds me of a GT4 race car. You see production switchgear alongside a modern electronic race dash, plus plenty of adjustment switches on the removable steering wheel. Weight distribution is 52/48R front/rear in the normal I-Pace, 48/52 in the race car. The latter weighs 4,320 pounds, a 450-pound reduction compared the street version. Easily replaceable carbon-fiber body panels are found front and rear, but most of the bodywork is the original aluminum. The new hood and front splitter better direct air for cooling the brakes and radiator, and create anti-lift. There is a minimal amount of downforce; if you add up all the aero bits, plus the 1.18-inch lower ride height, you get around 50 pounds of total downforce, which is less than a Honda Civic Type R. The upgraded (twice the capacity of stock) A/C system helps cool the battery pack and the electric motors.

The race and production I-Pace produce the same power; 0-to-60-mph for the race car takes about 4.5 seconds and top speed is 121 mph—similar numbers to the street I-Pace. Those are pedestrian figures for a race car, but I started racing in the mid ’80s in a 50-hp Renault Alliance spec-series car and had a blast, as did the fans who followed that series. Also, there’s never been a boring Mazda Miata race, even if just two cars are running, which has never happened. So I can get onboard with the I-Pace’s output.

Sitting in the I-Pace eTrophy felt pretty much like any other race car. There are only two pedals; no use for a clutch. Note: to launch fast, no brake hold is needed because max power is produced immediately when you bury the “gas” pedal.

As I rolled the I-Pace racer down pit lane, all I heard was rattling anti-roll bars, solid suspension bushings, and anything else not welded together. I now know race brakes make a total racket when not drowned out by a race engine, something I never considered before in my entire driving career. I had to resist the temptation to come in and ask the crew to check every nut and bolt on the car, because it sounded like at least 90 percent of them were ready to fall off. Once I got rolling, though, the can of ball bearings effect was less obvious due to my focus on going quickly.

The Stowe Circuit is quite short, with 11 corners, and several of them were actually chicanes made with cones. The Bosch ABS brakes (15.55-inch front/13.98 rear) allowed aggressive modulation. There is no stability control. The off-throttle regenerative braking can produce up to 0.4 g of deceleration. It’s slightly adjustable and does play a part while trail braking.

The grip of the specially developed Michelin Pilot Sport tires feels equivalent to a PS4S street tire. The race tires are similar in size to the production I-Pace’s 265/40R22 tires and have full tread depth, which avoids the need for rain tires. (Likewise, Formula E uses “all-weather” Michelin race tires.)

My cornering-speed limits were determined by how much I could rotate the I-Pace on entry. It behaves very much like most all-wheel drive cars on a track, quickly exhibiting understeer when you try to add power mid-corner. The more rotation I could carry into and through a corner, the better. You can adjust front to rear torque distribution, but for now the adjustment range only moves torque from 48-percent rear to 52-percent rear. I won’t be surprised if the series’ drivers quickly ask for more adjustment range.

The stiffer suspension setup versus the production I-Pace made controlling the rate of rotation on corner entry a challenge, but not impossible. Personally, I would add some compliance to the suspension if I actually raced one of these cars in the series. Softening up the suspension and antiroll bars would slow down body roll for corner entry and help the driver transition back to power. Anything you can do to increase the roll compliance of a heavy race car, especially one with limited mechanical grip, helps. I learned this long ago while racing street-based cars on regular street tires.

I thoroughly enjoyed my laps in Jaguar’s I-Pace eTrophy race car. As an aside, as I walked away from the car I noticed its outside mirrors: It occurred to me they might last about three turns, of lap one, of practice one, of race weekend one. Keep an eye on that.

The eTrophy Championship races are short, scheduled to run just 25 minutes plus one lap. Google and YouTube metrics say younger audiences prefer shorter entertainment cycles, and Jaguar will focus on finding the correct marketing approach here. Another piece of the entertainment jigsaw will be the willingness of the series’ drivers to race side by side “everywhere�� on the tight concrete-lined tracks; nobody likes a permanent pace-car situation.

A world championship street-race series, with 20 equally powered, 4,300-pound Jaguar SUVs, should be something to see. It’s fair to say brand differentiation is alive and well at Jaguar. I’m looking forward to the first race, and my hat’s off to Jaguar for daring to try.

IFTTT

[eddiejpoplar]

Our Pro Racer Tests the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy Race Car

The introduction of the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy Championship occurred recently at the Silverstone motorsports complex, home of the Formula 1 British Grand Prix. Jaguar Racing director James Barclay was quick to reference Jaguar’s storied racing history, and my thoughts went immediately to the legendary Jaguar D-types from the 1950s. Jaguar much later dabbled in F1 in the early 2000s, in Prototype GT racing in the ’80s and ’90s, and nowadays we see the new F-Type SVR GT4 in competition. Jaguar officially entered into the Formula E fray for the series’ third season (2016/2017) with its I-Type2. (Formula E seasons normally begin in Asia around November.)

A handful of automotive companies are involved in racing almost permanently, some never. Jaguar is somewhere in the middle, and its in-and-out approach is linked more to sales and budget rather than to lack of corporate interest. Engineers, designers, and media folks don’t usually make decisions about racing, but the Jaguar team I met at Silverstone showed genuine enthusiasm for the new I-Pace racing endeavor, something that was great to see and hear. Indeed, recent signs have shown Jaguar walking the performance-marketing road again: In November 2017, a “near production”-spec (Jag’s words) XE SV Project 8 smashed the Nurburgring four-door saloon/sedan lap record with a 7-minute, 21.23-second time. That was 11 seconds quicker than the previous record holder, an Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio.

The weather was picture perfect as we arrived at Silverstone, where a tiny one-lane bridge led us over the F1 layout to the Stowe Circuit. Stowe lies completely inside the main F1 track and is used mostly for testing and tuning. It’s an interesting track, in a high-speed-autocross kind of way.

The main reason for being here was to drive the new I-Pace eTrophy electric race car. First, though, I climbed aboard an I-Pace street car for an interesting, gated-autocross-style exercise. An area the size of maybe half of a football field featured eight random gates denoted by cones. The cones flashed green (drive through) or blue (next gate to turn green), then red when the test was over. It was an exceptionally slow-speed course, but handily showed the I-Pace’s “right now” acceleration, braking, and excellent low-speed handling.

Really, though, we were here to better understand Jaguar’s involvement in electric racing. As you probably know, Formula E uses all-electric formula-style race cars, with events held on temporary city-street circuits. In 2018, New York was the only U.S. venue for a series that holds rounds on five continents. The argument in favor of Formula E is that it is directly relevant to the fast-growing trend toward all-electric vehicles. Several major automotive companies are players in Formula E; the series hoped to have four large corporate series sponsors by 2018 yet it already has 10. Six of those 10 are automobile manufacturers: Porsche, Mercedes, Audi, BMW, Renault, and Jaguar. ABB corporation, which specializes in fast-charging technology and recently signed on as title sponsor, has made the official series name the ABB FIA Formula E Championship.

Formula E’s second-generation race car is due next season; apparently it’s a major move forward in design, power, and handling. Also addressed was the present need for teams to utilize two cars during each race, due to battery-life limitations. The irony of this apparent inefficiency compared to the series’ desired “green” image was not lost on the organizers, so the new car will run entire races on one charge.

But those Formula E machines won’t be the only all-electric cars racing on the series’ event weekends. I would have loved to been in the Jaguar board meeting where somebody stood up with a straight face and suggested developing the I-Pace SUV into a race car—with its very own 20-car, I-Pace World Championship racing series. Yet here we are, at Silverstone with an I-Pace e Trophy race car. Jaguar made a three-year commitment to run the series alongside Formula E, and there will be 10 race weekends on the schedule for this season.

Jaguar will keep and maintain all 20 cars between events to ensure parity. It will also provide the crew and an engineer for each car/driver. The cost to run the series is around $600,000 per season, plus a $125,000 annual lease. A team can buy the car for $260,000, saving on extended lease costs. Crash damage incurs additional charges. This will essentially be an “arrive and drive” racing series.

The Jaguar race team worked with the FIA to set up I-Pace safety regulations. In the race car, a standard I-Pace battery pack is nestled inboard of the roll cage to better protect the pack from impacts. There are two isolator switches mounted in the center console, for separate battery shutdown in case of a crash. The race car uses the same 145-kW electric motors found in the street car; they produce the equivalent of 400 hp, driving all four wheels. The motors, along with the 90-kW battery pack, produce 500 amps of juice—you would not want a driver or emergency worker receiving a shock from that kind of power. To help with this, the I-Pace shows a green light front, rear, and on the center dash when there is no live power. If the car instead shows a red or blue light, there could be live electricity around the car. Emergency workers will carry specialized equipment to combat any crash-related issues that may involve electricity.

The interior reminds me of a GT4 race car. You see production switchgear alongside a modern electronic race dash, plus plenty of adjustment switches on the removable steering wheel. Weight distribution is 52/48R front/rear in the normal I-Pace, 48/52 in the race car. The latter weighs 4,320 pounds, a 450-pound reduction compared the street version. Easily replaceable carbon-fiber body panels are found front and rear, but most of the bodywork is the original aluminum. The new hood and front splitter better direct air for cooling the brakes and radiator, and create anti-lift. There is a minimal amount of downforce; if you add up all the aero bits, plus the 1.18-inch lower ride height, you get around 50 pounds of total downforce, which is less than a Honda Civic Type R. The upgraded (twice the capacity of stock) A/C system helps cool the battery pack and the electric motors.

The race and production I-Pace produce the same power; 0-to-60-mph for the race car takes about 4.5 seconds and top speed is 121 mph—similar numbers to the street I-Pace. Those are pedestrian figures for a race car, but I started racing in the mid ’80s in a 50-hp Renault Alliance spec-series car and had a blast, as did the fans who followed that series. Also, there’s never been a boring Mazda Miata race, even if just two cars are running, which has never happened. So I can get onboard with the I-Pace’s output.

Sitting in the I-Pace eTrophy felt pretty much like any other race car. There are only two pedals; no use for a clutch. Note: to launch fast, no brake hold is needed because max power is produced immediately when you bury the “gas” pedal.

As I rolled the I-Pace racer down pit lane, all I heard was rattling anti-roll bars, solid suspension bushings, and anything else not welded together. I now know race brakes make a total racket when not drowned out by a race engine, something I never considered before in my entire driving career. I had to resist the temptation to come in and ask the crew to check every nut and bolt on the car, because it sounded like at least 90 percent of them were ready to fall off. Once I got rolling, though, the can of ball bearings effect was less obvious due to my focus on going quickly.

The Stowe Circuit is quite short, with 11 corners, and several of them were actually chicanes made with cones. The Bosch ABS brakes (15.55-inch front/13.98 rear) allowed aggressive modulation. There is no stability control. The off-throttle regenerative braking can produce up to 0.4 g of deceleration. It’s slightly adjustable and does play a part while trail braking.

The grip of the specially developed Michelin Pilot Sport tires feels equivalent to a PS4S street tire. The race tires are similar in size to the production I-Pace’s 265/40R22 tires and have full tread depth, which avoids the need for rain tires. (Likewise, Formula E uses “all-weather” Michelin race tires.)

My cornering-speed limits were determined by how much I could rotate the I-Pace on entry. It behaves very much like most all-wheel drive cars on a track, quickly exhibiting understeer when you try to add power mid-corner. The more rotation I could carry into and through a corner, the better. You can adjust front to rear torque distribution, but for now the adjustment range only moves torque from 48-percent rear to 52-percent rear. I won’t be surprised if the series’ drivers quickly ask for more adjustment range.

The stiffer suspension setup versus the production I-Pace made controlling the rate of rotation on corner entry a challenge, but not impossible. Personally, I would add some compliance to the suspension if I actually raced one of these cars in the series. Softening up the suspension and antiroll bars would slow down body roll for corner entry and help the driver transition back to power. Anything you can do to increase the roll compliance of a heavy race car, especially one with limited mechanical grip, helps. I learned this long ago while racing street-based cars on regular street tires.

I thoroughly enjoyed my laps in Jaguar’s I-Pace eTrophy race car. As an aside, as I walked away from the car I noticed its outside mirrors: It occurred to me they might last about three turns, of lap one, of practice one, of race weekend one. Keep an eye on that.

The eTrophy Championship races are short, scheduled to run just 25 minutes plus one lap. Google and YouTube metrics say younger audiences prefer shorter entertainment cycles, and Jaguar will focus on finding the correct marketing approach here. Another piece of the entertainment jigsaw will be the willingness of the series’ drivers to race side by side “everywhere” on the tight concrete-lined tracks; nobody likes a permanent pace-car situation.

A world championship street-race series, with 20 equally powered, 4,300-pound Jaguar SUVs, should be something to see. It’s fair to say brand differentiation is alive and well at Jaguar. I’m looking forward to the first race, and my hat’s off to Jaguar for daring to try.

IFTTT

[jonathanbelloblog]

Our Pro Racer Tests the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy Race Car

The introduction of the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy Championship occurred recently at the Silverstone motorsports complex, home of the Formula 1 British Grand Prix. Jaguar Racing director James Barclay was quick to reference Jaguar’s storied racing history, and my thoughts went immediately to the legendary Jaguar D-types from the 1950s. Jaguar much later dabbled in F1 in the early 2000s, in Prototype GT racing in the ’80s and ’90s, and nowadays we see the new F-Type SVR GT4 in competition. Jaguar officially entered into the Formula E fray for the series’ third season (2016/2017) with its I-Type2. (Formula E seasons normally begin in Asia around November.)

A handful of automotive companies are involved in racing almost permanently, some never. Jaguar is somewhere in the middle, and its in-and-out approach is linked more to sales and budget rather than to lack of corporate interest. Engineers, designers, and media folks don’t usually make decisions about racing, but the Jaguar team I met at Silverstone showed genuine enthusiasm for the new I-Pace racing endeavor, something that was great to see and hear. Indeed, recent signs have shown Jaguar walking the performance-marketing road again: In November 2017, a “near production”-spec (Jag’s words) XE SV Project 8 smashed the Nurburgring four-door saloon/sedan lap record with a 7-minute, 21.23-second time. That was 11 seconds quicker than the previous record holder, an Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio.

The weather was picture perfect as we arrived at Silverstone, where a tiny one-lane bridge led us over the F1 layout to the Stowe Circuit. Stowe lies completely inside the main F1 track and is used mostly for testing and tuning. It’s an interesting track, in a high-speed-autocross kind of way.

The main reason for being here was to drive the new I-Pace eTrophy electric race car. First, though, I climbed aboard an I-Pace street car for an interesting, gated-autocross-style exercise. An area the size of maybe half of a football field featured eight random gates denoted by cones. The cones flashed green (drive through) or blue (next gate to turn green), then red when the test was over. It was an exceptionally slow-speed course, but handily showed the I-Pace’s “right now” acceleration, braking, and excellent low-speed handling.

Really, though, we were here to better understand Jaguar’s involvement in electric racing. As you probably know, Formula E uses all-electric formula-style race cars, with events held on temporary city-street circuits. In 2018, New York was the only U.S. venue for a series that holds rounds on five continents. The argument in favor of Formula E is that it is directly relevant to the fast-growing trend toward all-electric vehicles. Several major automotive companies are players in Formula E; the series hoped to have four large corporate series sponsors by 2018 yet it already has 10. Six of those 10 are automobile manufacturers: Porsche, Mercedes, Audi, BMW, Renault, and Jaguar. ABB corporation, which specializes in fast-charging technology and recently signed on as title sponsor, has made the official series name the ABB FIA Formula E Championship.

Formula E’s second-generation race car is due next season; apparently it’s a major move forward in design, power, and handling. Also addressed was the present need for teams to utilize two cars during each race, due to battery-life limitations. The irony of this apparent inefficiency compared to the series’ desired “green” image was not lost on the organizers, so the new car will run entire races on one charge.

But those Formula E machines won’t be the only all-electric cars racing on the series’ event weekends. I would have loved to been in the Jaguar board meeting where somebody stood up with a straight face and suggested developing the I-Pace SUV into a race car—with its very own 20-car, I-Pace World Championship racing series. Yet here we are, at Silverstone with an I-Pace e Trophy race car. Jaguar made a three-year commitment to run the series alongside Formula E, and there will be 10 race weekends on the schedule for this season.

Jaguar will keep and maintain all 20 cars between events to ensure parity. It will also provide the crew and an engineer for each car/driver. The cost to run the series is around $600,000 per season, plus a $125,000 annual lease. A team can buy the car for $260,000, saving on extended lease costs. Crash damage incurs additional charges. This will essentially be an “arrive and drive” racing series.

The Jaguar race team worked with the FIA to set up I-Pace safety regulations. In the race car, a standard I-Pace battery pack is nestled inboard of the roll cage to better protect the pack from impacts. There are two isolator switches mounted in the center console, for separate battery shutdown in case of a crash. The race car uses the same 145-kW electric motors found in the street car; they produce the equivalent of 400 hp, driving all four wheels. The motors, along with the 90-kW battery pack, produce 500 amps of juice—you would not want a driver or emergency worker receiving a shock from that kind of power. To help with this, the I-Pace shows a green light front, rear, and on the center dash when there is no live power. If the car instead shows a red or blue light, there could be live electricity around the car. Emergency workers will carry specialized equipment to combat any crash-related issues that may involve electricity.

The interior reminds me of a GT4 race car. You see production switchgear alongside a modern electronic race dash, plus plenty of adjustment switches on the removable steering wheel. Weight distribution is 52/48R front/rear in the normal I-Pace, 48/52 in the race car. The latter weighs 4,320 pounds, a 450-pound reduction compared the street version. Easily replaceable carbon-fiber body panels are found front and rear, but most of the bodywork is the original aluminum. The new hood and front splitter better direct air for cooling the brakes and radiator, and create anti-lift. There is a minimal amount of downforce; if you add up all the aero bits, plus the 1.18-inch lower ride height, you get around 50 pounds of total downforce, which is less than a Honda Civic Type R. The upgraded (twice the capacity of stock) A/C system helps cool the battery pack and the electric motors.

The race and production I-Pace produce the same power; 0-to-60-mph for the race car takes about 4.5 seconds and top speed is 121 mph—similar numbers to the street I-Pace. Those are pedestrian figures for a race car, but I started racing in the mid ’80s in a 50-hp Renault Alliance spec-series car and had a blast, as did the fans who followed that series. Also, there’s never been a boring Mazda Miata race, even if just two cars are running, which has never happened. So I can get onboard with the I-Pace’s output.

Sitting in the I-Pace eTrophy felt pretty much like any other race car. There are only two pedals; no use for a clutch. Note: to launch fast, no brake hold is needed because max power is produced immediately when you bury the “gas” pedal.

As I rolled the I-Pace racer down pit lane, all I heard was rattling anti-roll bars, solid suspension bushings, and anything else not welded together. I now know race brakes make a total racket when not drowned out by a race engine, something I never considered before in my entire driving career. I had to resist the temptation to come in and ask the crew to check every nut and bolt on the car, because it sounded like at least 90 percent of them were ready to fall off. Once I got rolling, though, the can of ball bearings effect was less obvious due to my focus on going quickly.

The Stowe Circuit is quite short, with 11 corners, and several of them were actually chicanes made with cones. The Bosch ABS brakes (15.55-inch front/13.98 rear) allowed aggressive modulation. There is no stability control. The off-throttle regenerative braking can produce up to 0.4 g of deceleration. It’s slightly adjustable and does play a part while trail braking.

The grip of the specially developed Michelin Pilot Sport tires feels equivalent to a PS4S street tire. The race tires are similar in size to the production I-Pace’s 265/40R22 tires and have full tread depth, which avoids the need for rain tires. (Likewise, Formula E uses “all-weather” Michelin race tires.)

My cornering-speed limits were determined by how much I could rotate the I-Pace on entry. It behaves very much like most all-wheel drive cars on a track, quickly exhibiting understeer when you try to add power mid-corner. The more rotation I could carry into and through a corner, the better. You can adjust front to rear torque distribution, but for now the adjustment range only moves torque from 48-percent rear to 52-percent rear. I won’t be surprised if the series’ drivers quickly ask for more adjustment range.

The stiffer suspension setup versus the production I-Pace made controlling the rate of rotation on corner entry a challenge, but not impossible. Personally, I would add some compliance to the suspension if I actually raced one of these cars in the series. Softening up the suspension and antiroll bars would slow down body roll for corner entry and help the driver transition back to power. Anything you can do to increase the roll compliance of a heavy race car, especially one with limited mechanical grip, helps. I learned this long ago while racing street-based cars on regular street tires.

I thoroughly enjoyed my laps in Jaguar’s I-Pace eTrophy race car. As an aside, as I walked away from the car I noticed its outside mirrors: It occurred to me they might last about three turns, of lap one, of practice one, of race weekend one. Keep an eye on that.

The eTrophy Championship races are short, scheduled to run just 25 minutes plus one lap. Google and YouTube metrics say younger audiences prefer shorter entertainment cycles, and Jaguar will focus on finding the correct marketing approach here. Another piece of the entertainment jigsaw will be the willingness of the series’ drivers to race side by side “everywhere” on the tight concrete-lined tracks; nobody likes a permanent pace-car situation.

A world championship street-race series, with 20 equally powered, 4,300-pound Jaguar SUVs, should be something to see. It’s fair to say brand differentiation is alive and well at Jaguar. I’m looking forward to the first race, and my hat’s off to Jaguar for daring to try.

IFTTT

[jonathanbelloblog]

Our Pro Racer Tests the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy Race Car

The introduction of the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy Championship occurred recently at the Silverstone motorsports complex, home of the Formula 1 British Grand Prix. Jaguar Racing director James Barclay was quick to reference Jaguar’s storied racing history, and my thoughts went immediately to the legendary Jaguar D-types from the 1950s. Jaguar much later dabbled in F1 in the early 2000s, in Prototype GT racing in the ’80s and ’90s, and nowadays we see the new F-Type SVR GT4 in competition. Jaguar officially entered into the Formula E fray for the series’ third season (2016/2017) with its I-Type2. (Formula E seasons normally begin in Asia around November.)

A handful of automotive companies are involved in racing almost permanently, some never. Jaguar is somewhere in the middle, and its in-and-out approach is linked more to sales and budget rather than to lack of corporate interest. Engineers, designers, and media folks don’t usually make decisions about racing, but the Jaguar team I met at Silverstone showed genuine enthusiasm for the new I-Pace racing endeavor, something that was great to see and hear. Indeed, recent signs have shown Jaguar walking the performance-marketing road again: In November 2017, a “near production”-spec (Jag’s words) XE SV Project 8 smashed the Nurburgring four-door saloon/sedan lap record with a 7-minute, 21.23-second time. That was 11 seconds quicker than the previous record holder, an Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio.

The weather was picture perfect as we arrived at Silverstone, where a tiny one-lane bridge led us over the F1 layout to the Stowe Circuit. Stowe lies completely inside the main F1 track and is used mostly for testing and tuning. It’s an interesting track, in a high-speed-autocross kind of way.

The main reason for being here was to drive the new I-Pace eTrophy electric race car. First, though, I climbed aboard an I-Pace street car for an interesting, gated-autocross-style exercise. An area the size of maybe half of a football field featured eight random gates denoted by cones. The cones flashed green (drive through) or blue (next gate to turn green), then red when the test was over. It was an exceptionally slow-speed course, but handily showed the I-Pace’s “right now” acceleration, braking, and excellent low-speed handling.

Really, though, we were here to better understand Jaguar’s involvement in electric racing. As you probably know, Formula E uses all-electric formula-style race cars, with events held on temporary city-street circuits. In 2018, New York was the only U.S. venue for a series that holds rounds on five continents. The argument in favor of Formula E is that it is directly relevant to the fast-growing trend toward all-electric vehicles. Several major automotive companies are players in Formula E; the series hoped to have four large corporate series sponsors by 2018 yet it already has 10. Six of those 10 are automobile manufacturers: Porsche, Mercedes, Audi, BMW, Renault, and Jaguar. ABB corporation, which specializes in fast-charging technology and recently signed on as title sponsor, has made the official series name the ABB FIA Formula E Championship.

Formula E’s second-generation race car is due next season; apparently it’s a major move forward in design, power, and handling. Also addressed was the present need for teams to utilize two cars during each race, due to battery-life limitations. The irony of this apparent inefficiency compared to the series’ desired “green” image was not lost on the organizers, so the new car will run entire races on one charge.

But those Formula E machines won’t be the only all-electric cars racing on the series’ event weekends. I would have loved to been in the Jaguar board meeting where somebody stood up with a straight face and suggested developing the I-Pace SUV into a race car—with its very own 20-car, I-Pace World Championship racing series. Yet here we are, at Silverstone with an I-Pace e Trophy race car. Jaguar made a three-year commitment to run the series alongside Formula E, and there will be 10 race weekends on the schedule for this season.

Jaguar will keep and maintain all 20 cars between events to ensure parity. It will also provide the crew and an engineer for each car/driver. The cost to run the series is around $600,000 per season, plus a $125,000 annual lease. A team can buy the car for $260,000, saving on extended lease costs. Crash damage incurs additional charges. This will essentially be an “arrive and drive” racing series.

The Jaguar race team worked with the FIA to set up I-Pace safety regulations. In the race car, a standard I-Pace battery pack is nestled inboard of the roll cage to better protect the pack from impacts. There are two isolator switches mounted in the center console, for separate battery shutdown in case of a crash. The race car uses the same 145-kW electric motors found in the street car; they produce the equivalent of 400 hp, driving all four wheels. The motors, along with the 90-kW battery pack, produce 500 amps of juice—you would not want a driver or emergency worker receiving a shock from that kind of power. To help with this, the I-Pace shows a green light front, rear, and on the center dash when there is no live power. If the car instead shows a red or blue light, there could be live electricity around the car. Emergency workers will carry specialized equipment to combat any crash-related issues that may involve electricity.

The interior reminds me of a GT4 race car. You see production switchgear alongside a modern electronic race dash, plus plenty of adjustment switches on the removable steering wheel. Weight distribution is 52/48R front/rear in the normal I-Pace, 48/52 in the race car. The latter weighs 4,320 pounds, a 450-pound reduction compared the street version. Easily replaceable carbon-fiber body panels are found front and rear, but most of the bodywork is the original aluminum. The new hood and front splitter better direct air for cooling the brakes and radiator, and create anti-lift. There is a minimal amount of downforce; if you add up all the aero bits, plus the 1.18-inch lower ride height, you get around 50 pounds of total downforce, which is less than a Honda Civic Type R. The upgraded (twice the capacity of stock) A/C system helps cool the battery pack and the electric motors.

The race and production I-Pace produce the same power; 0-to-60-mph for the race car takes about 4.5 seconds and top speed is 121 mph—similar numbers to the street I-Pace. Those are pedestrian figures for a race car, but I started racing in the mid ’80s in a 50-hp Renault Alliance spec-series car and had a blast, as did the fans who followed that series. Also, there’s never been a boring Mazda Miata race, even if just two cars are running, which has never happened. So I can get onboard with the I-Pace’s output.

Sitting in the I-Pace eTrophy felt pretty much like any other race car. There are only two pedals; no use for a clutch. Note: to launch fast, no brake hold is needed because max power is produced immediately when you bury the “gas” pedal.

As I rolled the I-Pace racer down pit lane, all I heard was rattling anti-roll bars, solid suspension bushings, and anything else not welded together. I now know race brakes make a total racket when not drowned out by a race engine, something I never considered before in my entire driving career. I had to resist the temptation to come in and ask the crew to check every nut and bolt on the car, because it sounded like at least 90 percent of them were ready to fall off. Once I got rolling, though, the can of ball bearings effect was less obvious due to my focus on going quickly.

The Stowe Circuit is quite short, with 11 corners, and several of them were actually chicanes made with cones. The Bosch ABS brakes (15.55-inch front/13.98 rear) allowed aggressive modulation. There is no stability control. The off-throttle regenerative braking can produce up to 0.4 g of deceleration. It’s slightly adjustable and does play a part while trail braking.

The grip of the specially developed Michelin Pilot Sport tires feels equivalent to a PS4S street tire. The race tires are similar in size to the production I-Pace’s 265/40R22 tires and have full tread depth, which avoids the need for rain tires. (Likewise, Formula E uses “all-weather” Michelin race tires.)

My cornering-speed limits were determined by how much I could rotate the I-Pace on entry. It behaves very much like most all-wheel drive cars on a track, quickly exhibiting understeer when you try to add power mid-corner. The more rotation I could carry into and through a corner, the better. You can adjust front to rear torque distribution, but for now the adjustment range only moves torque from 48-percent rear to 52-percent rear. I won’t be surprised if the series’ drivers quickly ask for more adjustment range.

The stiffer suspension setup versus the production I-Pace made controlling the rate of rotation on corner entry a challenge, but not impossible. Personally, I would add some compliance to the suspension if I actually raced one of these cars in the series. Softening up the suspension and antiroll bars would slow down body roll for corner entry and help the driver transition back to power. Anything you can do to increase the roll compliance of a heavy race car, especially one with limited mechanical grip, helps. I learned this long ago while racing street-based cars on regular street tires.

I thoroughly enjoyed my laps in Jaguar’s I-Pace eTrophy race car. As an aside, as I walked away from the car I noticed its outside mirrors: It occurred to me they might last about three turns, of lap one, of practice one, of race weekend one. Keep an eye on that.

The eTrophy Championship races are short, scheduled to run just 25 minutes plus one lap. Google and YouTube metrics say younger audiences prefer shorter entertainment cycles, and Jaguar will focus on finding the correct marketing approach here. Another piece of the entertainment jigsaw will be the willingness of the series’ drivers to race side by side “everywhere” on the tight concrete-lined tracks; nobody likes a permanent pace-car situation.

A world championship street-race series, with 20 equally powered, 4,300-pound Jaguar SUVs, should be something to see. It’s fair to say brand differentiation is alive and well at Jaguar. I’m looking forward to the first race, and my hat’s off to Jaguar for daring to try.

IFTTT