Street Track Failures: Episode 46 - Cape Town

[@Gemini2845]

I heard that it was had a really good economical impact for the city of Cape Town but a really bad one for Formula E as an organisation, because people prefered to not book places in the standing and watch the race on the side of the road

[@vl3005]

I'm not an expert but I don't think that's how it works. The ticket revenue goes to the city and the event promoter which in some cases are the same people (I think CT was an example of the latter). FE get the money through merch sales (of which there were a sufficient amount in Cape Town and honestly all throughout the season judging by the two events I went to, and the footage I've seen) and from a long term deal/contract they make with the city for "a fixed price" sort to speak. I think FE gets paid in advance to come to cities. So it's either that the deal was bad for FE from the start and they decided to give it a try for just one year, and when it proved successful, the city of Cape Town decided to be dicks and wouldn't pay the reasonable price and would basically "beg for more discounts" that FE just can't give - hence the failed deal. But again, this is just speculation. The economic shithole that is South Africa in these days kinda supports this idea that South Africa just didn't want to give the reasonable price for a world championship to race in one of it's cities, but for the third time, a disclaimer: This is just my theory... (Which checks out, given all the facts)

[@Gemini2845]

@@vl3005 that is just what I heard

[@AJZulu]

As a South African. This checks out​@@vl3005

[@CarsWithLyle]

tickets were all sold out buddy

[@sdx3918]

I think this track was a good glimpse of what FE can be when its not restricted to tight and twisty hairpins simulator circuits because cars always needing to save and regen battery life. The fact FE now are now trying to go to more purpose built tracks it might because it stemmed from this circuit working well.

[@wife9571]

i think the shift in circuit choices more reflects the capabilities of the gen 3 car, and it had started long before the success of cape town. Yet, I agree cape town was a cornerstone moment for the series and i'm desperate for them to return.

[@psychlops924]

I thinki the Portland race is the best argument that FE should ditch strret tracks and get to more purpose built circuits. Although I am looking forward to seeing how the Tokyo circuit goes.

[@durrnery2]

Man, I wish they would replace the now vacant Hyderabad round with this. Would never happen but a man can dream.

[@DannyPlaysStuff]

Call me biased but I'd prefer Jakarta over this, it has proven to be a good fit for FE and the election is in February anyway, so filling in the spot Hyderabad left is certainly plausible

[@durrnery2]

@@DannyPlaysStuff I remember hearing that they only skipped Jakarta this year so they could use the space the track is on for election campaigns, and it will be back for certain in 2025. With Cape Town its a bit more up in the air.

[@DannyPlaysStuff]

Yeah I just look back at the original calendar and Hyderabad was to be held in February. Thought it's gonna be in June or July, my bad.

[@NascarNixon]

Daytona Beach was technically a street course. Half beach, half public road.

[@FlashoftheBlades]

This track looks simply amazing! It deserves as much of a place on the FE calendar as the Addison Park Street Circuit in Dallas deserves to be a future entry in this series.

[@Hammerhead547]

4:00 I used to have one of thoee magellan gps units. It now rests at the bottom of a lake because I threw it off a jetty when it told me to take a left that would've driven me down a boat launch and into said lake.

[@eholanda01]

I read a report that everyone at FE really liked this race. The layout is fantastic. I really hope that one day this track will host an FE race again. So may Kyalami welcome back to F1 as soon as possible!!

[@StevePhoenix]

F1 won't come back to Kyalami any time soon, since it's a Grade 2 track. I guess they could work on the track to bring it to Grade 1 standards, but I doubt there's much financial incentive to do that.

[@FlashoftheBlades]

@@StevePhoenixOne of the owners of the Kyalami Circuit is involved with Porsche South Africa 🇿🇦, and he’s quite keen on getting F1 back there. So it wouldn’t be too farfetched to see Kyalami return to F1.

[@unfortunately_fortunate2000]

I don't understand the hype behind Kayalami, out of all the races I have watched at that circuit, and, all the sim racing I've done at that track, it's appeal is just lost on me. it rather seemed to me that even the early 90s cars were starting to outgrow it, the only real passing opportunity is the start/finish straight and, given how sensitive the current tyres are, following seems like it'd be rather problematic especially given how heavy these cars currently are and how few lines there are given the current suspension setups required to get the most out of the floor.

[@FlashoftheBlades]

@@unfortunately_fortunate2000 The track used to have a different layout, and many revere that layout more than the one in the 90s.

[@benneitmann4143]

Man, I loved that venue, the location, the layout, the racing, everything was awesome! I will never give up hoping that it will return to the calendar, hopefully rather sooner than later

[@maxb148]

As someone who hasn't watched FE for the last year and a bit, mainly due to lack of free time and lack of publicity of when the races were actually going on, this track looks so good and I think what more street tracks should be like, it is all good having tight, twisty, slow street tracks but at the same time there needs to be the high speed but technical so less the speed of Vegas and more the speed and danger of Saudi, for a comparison to F1. Especially with the hard braking zones, blind corners and elevation changes it really shows what the drivers can do and I think FE needs that because it has the reputation from fans of a certain series that they aren't good drivers and just cause accidents (mainly because those fans only see the time there are accidents mainly due to the very close racing), seeing drivers fly round a track like this should make any motorsport fan excited and it is sad that this isn't on the calendar for this year. (Edit: I wrote this comment half way through the episode and you said the exact same as what I wrote at the end of the video)

[@AJZulu]

That Satnav bit was on point. Had a good chuckle

[@x-90]

I appreciate Formula E dedication in keeping this series going

[@DaveyZee72]

Diriyah in Saudi Arabia is a cracking track for FE with its fast sequence of high speed corners. It had quite an interesting first 2 practice sessions as well. But it’s not a failure because it’s still in operation

[@dominicbarden4436]

It is such a shame that this circuit isn't on the calendar this year, last year's race was one of the best of the season. Da Costa's move for the lead was mad! Just a shame that Kelvin van der Linde was unable to take part in his home race because the Mahindra powered cars were withdrawn, and that Sam Bird was unable to start the race after his crash in qualifying.

[@vincentemond5620]

I seem to remember the Cape Town ePrix organizers being able to host the first event on a sort of discount, where Formula E would help pay for a big part of the bill. When it came to future events and the organizers having to put more money into it, they apparently got cold feet and backed out.

[@MENQN]

That Wehrlein proper crashed when he had brake failure at Cape town but it was a great race and probably the bestest ever overtake done

[@pedroasif6844]

Hosting a racing event with electric-powered vehicles in a country whose state-owned electricity supplier can't even function properly is the ultimate twist of irony. Before you start coming down on my neck, know that I am from Cape Town and attended this race. The atmosphere was great, but there was no shelter on the grandstands so we ended up getting turned into biltong by the time the race concluded, especially considering that the day began cloudy. That's Cape Town weather for you.

[@Lastname6955]

For me, this was FE's best track. Gutted they aren't going back in '24

[@dominicbarden4436]

It's certainly up there with the best circuits in my opinion.

[@heliogt1961]

i wont lie. that track is kinda awesome. i can see it modded in AC and FE or smaller formula cars being a blast on there

[@Jasongilliar]

I loved that, thank you. I love this track

[@luiscamus4954]

I would really recommend a video on the Caesars palace indycar "oval"

[@GreenHornet553]

I would love it if IndyCar was able to get the organizers to revive this track for a race.

[@Exponaut_R-01]

This track looks like it'd be fun in nearly anything, even if it'd be incredibly frustrating to get perfect And the surroundings look amazing!

[@RacingAtHome]

Looking forward to the Hyderabad episode of this.

[@thisamazingguyspage]

A truly fantastic track for the series, and it's a shame its future is in such doubt. That last move between Da Costa and Vergne was probably my favourite overtake across all of motorsports in 2023

[@djvycious]

This x1000! Didn't he make the same one-in-a-million overtake TWICE in the same T7-T8? It was one of those holy s*** moments that precariously balances between brilliance and disaster and it paid off. This is the reason why we keep coming back to motor racing. A driver finds a crucial extra tenth of speed no one else has, considers all odds and pulls it off to take victory. It would be a crime if Formula E never returned to this circuit.

[@trish2764]

Formula E week? I hope Montréal is in there...

[@Atticus3lack]

Great video as always!

[@chazmyster]

A top 5 formula e track of all time imo

[@caseyf14483]

I'd love to see Hanoi on this series as it never even got off the ground

[@MatthiaGryffine]

I'm surprised that all of the mini kinks aren't classified as turns like it is in Jeddah.

[@BlackFantasy470]

I haven't watched all videos of this series yet but if you haven't done it yet, I'd like you to cover the Avus that was used as a racing track in Berlin years ago, I believe until the 90s.

[@carlosrenetapia6175]

Well, maybe the next Ocean Reace, this track will be return to the Formula E calendar.

[@crouchb15]

thanks for reminding me FE exists

[@AS19Motorsport]

The track was fun; shame it hasn’t stayed on this year’s calendar

[@dragonhunter2271]

I remember watching that massive accident in quail at turn 8 and 9 live. Oh boy did it look bad. Thankfully both drivers were okay and amazingly I think their cars got repaired in time for the race if I remember correctly (I'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong)

[@dominicbarden4436]

Mortara was able to start the race, but Bird wasn't.

[@dragonhunter2271]

Ah. Thanks

[@insertgenericusernamehere2402]

If indycar ever did an international track I'd recommend them to go to this.

[@wesleydenbrokracing7101]

It`s a bit like the Jeddah circuit: fast and dangerous.

[@ferrariman195]

Always love your videos

[@Tyb53rotax]

When the supercars season starts, you may as well do Newcastle haha

[@UncleJoeLITE]

Not a terrible circuit. Cheers from Canberra (home of no motor racing whatsoever, just the bogan Summernats).

[@thaliatikasz]

Gosh i love this track

[@gchampi2]

The real problem is the "E" in Formula E. As in, South Africa has MASSIVE problems with their electricity infrastructure, with rolling blackouts affecting pretty much the whole country. Taking a racing series with cars that need to be charged up from the mains before they can race to a country with rolling blackouts because they can't power the whole country at the best of times = BAD IDEA. Add to that the security concerns, and I can see why they aren't going back anytime soon...

[@squid36tamers]

Next idea for a falled street circuit for you: AVUS

[@neaulllann]

could you do berlin alexanderplatz street circuit

[@lewis8552]

A shame FE has lost two of its 3 new street circuits from gen 3. All of which solid tracks, Cape Town being easily the best. And now Rome is gone too which was a solid track as well. Hopefully they can find some more street venues because FE is at its best when its on a street track. The road circuits are a bit too mental for my tastes, well if they're all like Portland that is (I guess well see this season with Shanghai and Misano).

[@jj72rg]

The event not running could have something to do with South Africa can't even keep their lights on with power outrages......

[@sdstewart87]

The wall sticking out at T1 annoys me big time. Would be an even better corner without that... Then you have the wall sticking out on the left handed after the roundabout. Just so stupid

[@KimiFan2002]

Let’s be real, this circuit is done. There’s more chance of Logan Sargent winning the title in 2024 than this returning

[@rosscrashtain]

Would it be possible to find a new pit road and bring F1 cars to it?

[@crapmalls]

How can they have formula E in a country with no electricity? Lmao

[@BCat2]

20 likes and i’ll watch every video and count 90 degree turn