Misano 2024 ePrix: Presentation and Stakes

The 10th season of Formula E is definitely very competitive. While five races have taken place since the opening of the championship last January, five different drivers from five different teams have won. The sixth and seventh rounds of the season are therefore expected to be once again exciting.

The Formula E arrives on motorcycle territory.

With Mexico City, Shanghai, and Portland, Misano is one of the four destinations on the calendar this season where the races take place on a permanent circuit. A country visited by Formula E since 2018, Italy had so far hosted the electric single-seaters in the district of the Universal Exposition in Rome.

In the streets of the Eternal City, five drivers have imposed themselves in eight races; Sam Bird (DS Virgin) in 2018, Mitch Evans (Jaguar) in 2019, 2023 and twice in 2022, Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Techeetah) in 2021, Stoffel Vandoorne (Mercedes) in 2021 and Jake Dennis (Andretti) in 2023.

Named after motorcycle rider Marco Simoncelli, who died in 2011, the Misano circuit, located between the Republic of San Marino and the Adriatic Sea, is best known for two-wheeled competitions. Hosting the Italian Motorcycle Grand Prix and the San Marino Motorcycle Grand Prix for several years, Misano will host the Formula E World Championship for the first time this weekend.

This will not be the first time that single-seaters will tread the tarmac of the Italian circuit this year. A few weeks ago, the Formula 1 Racing Bulls team, based in Faenza a few kilometers from Misano, had completed the first laps of the VCARB-01 currently piloted by Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo.

A unique permanent circuit

For the Formula E, the Misano circuit will offer a different and slightly shorter configuration than the one used by motorcycles. In the FE version, the circuit will consist of 14 turns for a length of 3.38 kilometers.

After the long straight start/finish line, the drivers will dive to the right before a sequence of three turns that will lead to another straight section until turn 5. This left curve marks the entrance to the second part of the circuit, consisting of five turns with a double right at 6 and 7 and a chicane.

This one cuts a long fast zone in half before the final part of the circuit. Until the pit straight, the drivers will have two right-hand corners flat out, a right hairpin, a slight left, and a final braking zone with a right-angled left turn.

Make your bets!

With two races on the schedule, many points are up for grabs for the twenty-two drivers and the eleven teams that make up the FE grid. Therefore, the standings of the two championships could be shaken up come Sunday night.

At the end of the Tokyo ePrix, Pascal Wehrlein took the lead in the championship ahead of Nick Cassidy by just two small points. The top four are even within ten points if we add Oliver Rowland and Jake Dennis.

This quartet should liven up the Italian weekend along with Mitch Evans, whose Jaguar is often comfortable on permanent circuits and who has not yet won this season despite several opportunities.

But this 10th season is crazy and each race brings a new winner. After Sam Bird in São Paulo and Maximilian Günther in Tokyo, only the wise can guess who will emerge as the winner on the two podiums of Misano.

The start of the two races of the Misano ePrix will be on Saturday, April 13th at 3:00 pm and Sunday, April 14th at 3:00 pm.