Formula E: Hong Kong

Formula E race from last season

Starting on Sunday October 9th is the 3rd season of Formula E Formula E. Since it doesn't rhyme with "NASCAR", "Indycar", or "Formula 1", maybe you're not familiar with Formula E! I tried following it a little bit in the first year, but to be honest I only watched part of a couple races and kind of lost track of what they were doing. In an effort to get some more fans, here's some of the basics...

Far far away, in a pretend land called "anything not in the USA", there was a governing body of international racing called the FIA. Of course that's funny right there, because a governing "body" implies that it doesn't have a head, which is where something that scientists call "brains" lives! So the FIA invented a new kind of racing where the cars don't have gas burning engines, because the cars would be powered by electric motors. At this time you should just stop worrying about how the electricity in the electric cars was generated, because somewhere along the way that power was likely converted from something like burning gas, nuclear power, or maybe the blowing of the wind.

If you're looking for a team to root for, how about Andretti, Renault, or Jaguar? Maybe a familiar driver name is your favorite, so you can cheer for names like Prost or Piquet, since both of their fathers were world champions in Formula 1. Here's more info on the teams and drivers: Teams/Drivers

One unique thing about Formula E is the Fan Boost, where you can go on line and vote for one driver to get an extra boost of power during the race, like the "Push to Pass" feature of Indycars. Each race also features something no one else has, and that's in the pit stops. Each driver has to stop once during the race, and switch cars! This happens because they are using up their battery power in about half the race, so a bit of the strategy is how they manage their power and battery life.

You should be able to catch the races on Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, or on their Fox Sports Go app. 
If you don't stay up and watch the Hong Kong race in the middle of the night at 3:30AM, you can catch it Sunday afternoon at 4:30PM eastern time on Fox. 

So, the idea of electric powered cars racing has now gone through two complete seasons, with races held all over the planet. Similar to Formula 1, the teams in Formula E have two cars in each race, and therefore two drivers for you to cheer for or hate. One thing that might get your attention is that for this season from October 2016 into August 2017, there will be one race in the US! This race will be in the New York City area on July 15-16 next year. If you want to get on the email list for info on tickets for this race, here's the link: Formula E NYC

Here's the full season schedule:

Hong Kong October 9, 2016
Marrakesh  November 12, 2016
Buenos Aires  February 17, 2017
Mexico City  April 1, 2017
Monaco  May 13, 2017
Paris  May 20, 2017
Berlin, June 10, 2017
Brussels, July 1, 2017
New York City, July 15-16, 2017
Montreal, July 29-30, 2017