Mahindra Confident Ahead of ‘Thinking-Person’s’ Racing

Mahindra boss Dilbagh Gill is confident that the teams’ new motor has the ability to race at the front of the grid in the second season of the all-electric series.

The M2Electro is an evolution of last years’ McLaren powertrain and was one of the most reliable motors in pre-season testing completing a mammoth 415 laps over the six days of testing at Donington Park in August.

This season’s new power regulations will present a challenge to teams who will need to find a balance between speed and conservation. Gill feels that the teams’ preparations have put them in a good position heading into the second season opener at Beijing on 24 October.

“I’m cautiously optimistic,” said Gill, “I believe we made the right decisions both in terms of developing the M2Electro and the way we have prepared for the season. The team has really come together well and both Nick [Heidfeld] and Bruno [Senna] have found their stride in the new car.”

For season two, the amount of usable power that has been made available to the teams during race trim has increased from 150kW to 170kW. The number of laps for each ePrix has also increased which will require more intelligent racing.

“The added variable of individual powertrains in the championship means that the racing will be slightly different,” explained Gill.

“It is too early to know what the difference in performance will be between the manufacturers in race trim, as most teams focused on reliability and efficiency in pre-season testing.

“There will always be some unknowns but I’m excited about the new experience of racing at 170kW, which will require teams to put much more emphasis on strategy, so the races will become more of a thinking-person’s game, rather than just a flat out race.”

The Mahindra boss feels that the team are well-prepared for the Beijing ePrix and have a better platform of data to work from than at this point last season.

“In terms of preparation and the data points which we had, we are a lot more prepared for Beijing this year.

“We know a lot more and the amount of data collected this year through our 15 days of approved testing and 6 days of pre-season testing, gave us a lot more insight on the car, so that will really help us.

“There is going to be a lot more performance coming out of our cars.”

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