Da Costa hopeful of Formula E title challenge in season three - MotorSportsTalk

Antonio Felix da Costa is hopeful of challenging for the Formula E title next season as he continues to finalize his plans for the upcoming campaign.

Da Costa raced for Team Aguri in the first two seasons of Formula E before its rebrand as Techeetah after being taken over by a Chinese investment firm.

The Portuguese driver is poised to join Andretti for the new season, set to begin in Hong Kong on October 9, where he will partner Robin Frijns.

Speaking to the Formula E website, da Costa said he hopes that he will have the right tools with which to compete for the championship in season three.

“I believe if I get the right tools we can put together a real crack at the championship,” da Costa said.

“For season three I am hoping that soon we can announce everything and I’m pretty confident we are sorting out some good tools to do that and have a proper go at it.

“That’s all I want – a chance to fight these guys and then we’ll see where we end up.”

Andretti is set to introduce its in-house powertrain for season three after software issues forced it to revert to the season one-spec unit last year.

Team Aguri found itself in a similar position, opting early on to stick with the season one powertrain in a bid to keep costs down.

Da Costa still managed to claim some big results, scoring pole in Long Beach before being excluded and running second in Buenos Aires until an issue caused his car to stop on track.

“It was my second season of Formula E and it was the second season that I had no winter testing at all,” da Costa said.

“It’s always been very, very on the edge for me to get a seat and last year was the same as year one.

“I went straight into the first season two race after missing the last one of the season one, so I didn’t drive the car for a lot of time and the team was going through some big changes.

“There were new owners in the team and so everything was happening at once and we were just getting on with everything as we went through.

“I’m very grateful to come into the season at such late notice and the team gave me a chance to race and we’ve done good things together and it’s put me in a very good place for season three.

“I think almost every team came and contacted me to see if I was available and have me as their driver, so for that I give thanks for the chance I had to race at all.”

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An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”