 Playa Brava Beach Circuit
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| Circuit Details | ||
| Name | Playa Brava Beach Circuit | |
| Location |  Playa Brava Beach, Punta del Este, Uruguay
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| Length | 2.785 km (1.731 mi) | |
| Corners | 20 | |
| First Race | 2014 Punta del Este ePrix
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| Last Race | 2018 Punta del Este E-Prix
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| Circuit Records | ||
| Fastest Lap | Qualifying | Wins |
| 1:16.811 | 1:15.408 | 2 |
 José María López
|
 Jean-Éric Vergne
|
 Sébastien Buemi
|
The Playa Brava Beach Circuit is a temporary street circuit established in Punta del Este, Uruguay, which hosted three Punta del Este E-Prix between 2014/15 and 2017/18 as rounds of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship.[1] Alternately known as the Punta del Este Street Circuit, the Playa Brava Beach Circuit has also hosted two in-season tests for FE, although has since fallen off the calendar for 2018/19 onward.[2]
Background
The Playa Brava Beach Circuit was first created in 1981 to host the Argentina Formula 2 Championship, and would a remain a regular fixture on their calendar through to 1988.[3] The Circuit was abandoned beyond that point, before being completely redesigned in 2007 in order to host the Argentine TC2000 Series after an expansion by the series across South America.[4] However, after just three meetings between 2007 and 2010 the Punta del Este circuit was dropped, and would remain dormant until FE visited the circuit in 2014.[4]
Formula E History
The city of Punta del Este in Uruguay was among the first cities to be picked to host an ePrix ahead of the inaugural 2014/15 FIA Formula E Championship.[5] The Playa Brava Beach Circuit subsequently emerged sa the favourite to host the race, and was duly picked to host the series' third race on 13 December 2014.[5] The race was won by Sébastien Buemi, although there were a lot of complaints about the circuit with regards to the pit-exit.[6]
Circuit History
Playa Brava Beach was subsequently modified for the 2015 Punta del Este ePrix, with the first chicane swapped from a right-left combo to a left-right, meaning the pit-exit was located on the outside of the corner.[7] Otherwise the circuit would remain unaltered, and would produce the same result as Buemi once again swept to victory.[8] The circuit subsequently dropped off the calendar in 2016/17 and 2017/18, only to be reinstated during the latter season after the planned São Paulo E-Prix was cancelled.[1]
The winner of the third, and currently last, FE race at the Playa Brava Beach Circuit would be Jean-Éric Vergne.[9]
Circuit Layout
A lap of Punta del Este opens on a curving start/finish straight, before the field hit the brakes for the first chicane, a left-right combination with an extended sweep right to exit.[4] A set of gentle curves formed turns three and four, before the field hit the brakes for the second chicane, a sharp right-left combination to break up the run to turn eight.[4] Turn eight itself formed effectively an elongated hairpin with turn nine, a pair of 90° lefts that turned the field back on itself.[4]
Another chicane followed that complex, with turns ten and eleven forming a left-right combination, followed by another shallow chicane at turn twelve.[4] Turn thirteen appeared as a sweeping right, leading the field into the tightest chicane at turns fourteen and fifteen, a sharp left-right combo.[4] Another curving straight then led the field into the final complex, which opened with a left hand curve of turn sixteen.[4]
Turn sixteen quickly developed into the braking zone for turn seventeen a sharp right that immediately opened into turn eighteen, a 90° left.[4] Turn nineteen was a long curve that followed turn eighteen, and would itself end in a hairpin left that appeared to form turn twenty.[4] That hairpin hence left the field back on the start/finish straight, with pit-in on the outside of the hairpin.[4]
Records
A full list of records for the Playa Brava Beach Circuit are outlined below, including a list of race winners.
Winners
Below is a list of all of the winners of ePrix held at the Playa Brava Beach Circuit:
| Playa Brava Beach Circuit Winners List | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Event | Date | Winner | Report |
| 2014/15 | 2014 Julius Baer Punta del Este ePrix
|
13 December 2014[5] | Sébastien Buemi[6]
|
Report |
| 2015/16 | 2015 FIA Formula E Punta del Este ePrix
|
19 December 2015[7] | Sébastien Buemi[8]
|
Report |
| 2017/18 | 2018 CBMM Niobium Punta del Este E-Prix
|
17 March 2018[1] | Jean-Éric Vergne[9]
|
Report |
Race-by-Race Records
The race-by-race records for the Playa Brava Beach Circuit are outlined below:
| Playa Brava Beach Circuit Race-by-Race Records | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Playa Brava Beach Circuit — 2.808 km (2014) | ||||||
| Event | Qualifying | Fastest Lap | Winner | |||
| Driver | Time | Driver | Time | Driver | Time | |
| 2014 Julius Baer Punta del Este ePrix
|
Jean-Éric Vergne
|
1:15.408 |  Daniel Abt
|
1:18.451 | Sébastien Buemi
|
49:08.990 |
| Playa Brava Beach Circuit — 2.785 km (2015 - 2018) | ||||||
| Event | Qualifying | Fastest Lap | Winner | |||
| Driver | Time | Driver | Time | Driver | Time | |
| 2015 FIA Formula E Punta del Este ePrix
|
 Jérôme d'Ambrosio
|
1:15.498 | Sébastien Buemi
|
1:17.413 | Sébastien Buemi
|
45:59.697 |
| 2018 CBMM Niobium Punta del Este E-Prix
|
Jean-Éric Vergne
|
1:16.806 | José María López
|
1:16.811 | Jean-Éric Vergne
|
50:43.809 |
References
Videos and Images:
References:
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 'Formula E returns to Punta del Este', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 06/12/2017), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2017/december/formula-e-returns-to-punta-del-este/, (Accessed 06/12/2017)
- ↑ 'ABB FIA Formula E Championship Season 5', info.fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 07/06/2018), http://info.fiaformulae.com/season-5-calendar/, (Accessed 07/06/2018)
- ↑ 'Punta del Este', racingcircuits.info, (Racing Circuits, 2019), https://www.racingcircuits.info/south-america/uruguay/punta-del-este.html, (Accessed 07/10/2019)
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 'Circuit guide: Punta del Este', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 2014), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/calendar/2014-punta-del-este/punta-del-este-circuit.aspx, (Accessed 09/07/2015)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 'Brilliant Buemi wins in Punta del Este', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 13/12/2014), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2014/december/brilliant-buemi-wins-in-punta-del-este.aspx, (Accessed 26/04/2015) Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "PdE14A" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 6.0 6.1 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedPdE14R - ↑ 7.0 7.1 'WMSC reveals dates for season two Formula E calendar', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 10/07/2015), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/july/wmsc-reveals-dates-for-season-two-formula-e-calendar.aspx, (Accessed 10/07/2015)
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 'Buemi back on top', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 19/12/2015), http://fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/december/buemi-back-on-top.aspx, (Accessed 25/12/2015)
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 'JEV holds off di Grassi in battle for Punta del Este', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 17/03/2018), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2018/march/jev-holds-off-di-grassi-in-battle-for-punta-del-este/, (Accessed 17/03/2018)
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