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BEIJING — The world’s first fully electric motor racing series, featuring battery-powered racecars that can accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour in three seconds, opened here Saturday.
北京——世界上首届全电动车赛系列周六在这里举行，以电池为动力的参赛汽车可以在三秒内从静止加速到每小时60英里。
Known as Formula E, this 10-stop international circuit is approved by the International Automobile Federation and aims to inspire developments in electric car technology and attract a new generation of fans.
被称为电动方程式(Formula E)的赛车锦标赛由国际汽车联合会授权，旨在激励发展电动车技术，吸引新一代的赛车迷，锦标赛分10站进行。
The inaugural race, the Beijing ePrix, was unexpectedly dramatic. A crash at the last turn of the final lap involving the leading cars allowed the Brazilian driver Lucas di Grassi of the Audi Sport ABT team to win.
北京站的揭幕赛出乎意料地充满戏剧性。发生在最后一圈的撞车，让奥迪ABT车队的巴西车手卢卡斯·迪·格拉斯(Lucas di Grassi)获得冠军。
Nicolas Prost had long been in the lead when his car touched Nick Heidfeld’s. Heidfeld’s vehicle flew end over end and landed upside down in pieces. He emerged unscathed.
尼古拉斯·普罗斯特(Nicolas Prost)驾驶的车在与尼克·海德菲尔德(Nick Heidfeld)的车碰撞之前，曾一直领先。海德菲尔德的车飞了起来，然后翻转了180度，顶朝下落在地面，车身破裂成众多碎片。不过，他毫发未损。
The Beijing ePrix took place in Olympic Park, site of the 2008 Olympics. The cars made 25 laps on the 3.44-kilometer course (about two miles), weaving between the Water Cube and Bird’s Nest.
电动方程式赛车锦标赛北京站在2008年的奥运会场奥林匹克公园举行。赛程共25圈，全长3.44公里，赛道在鸟巢和水立方之间穿行。
Among the 75,000 people reportedly on site were a large number of local residents who were pleasantly surprised to find an international sporting event to attend as long as they paid the park entrance fee.
据报道，有75,000人到现场观看，其中大多是当地居民，他们惊喜地发现，出席一个国际性的体育盛事只需他们支付公园门票。
The series was the brainchild of the federation’s president, Jean Todt, and a Spanish businessman, Alejandro Agag, who came up with the idea in 2011.
电动方程式赛车锦标赛是国际汽联主席让·托德(Jean Todt)和西班牙商人亚历杭德罗·阿加格(Alejandro Agag)的主意，是2011年想出来的。
“We expect this championship to become the framework for research and development around the electric car, a key element for the future of our cities,” Agag told the event’s website.
阿加格对锦标赛网站表示，“我们希望这个赛事成为电动车的研发框架，电动车是我们城市未来的关键之一。”
The championship has strong backing — it took $100 million to get the project off the ground — and a number of Formula One veterans like Jarno Trulli strapped into racecars. Sir Richard Branson, the four-time Formula One champion Alain Prost and the actor Leonardo DiCaprio are among the team owners.
锦标赛有坚强的后盾——光筹备工作就花了1亿美元，还吸引了几位一级方程式赛车的老手参加，比如贾尔诺·特鲁利(Jarno Trulli)。理查德·布兰森爵士(Sir Richard Branson)、曾4次获得一级方程式赛车冠军的阿兰·普罗斯特(Alain Prost)，以及演员莱昂纳多·迪卡普里奥(Leonardo DiCaprio)拥有的车队参加了比赛。
Unlike other racing series, Formula E schedules practice rounds, qualifying and races into a single day’s program instead of three, making it less disruptive to the host cities where the street circuits have been built.
与其他的车赛系列不同，电动方程式赛车把练习、预选和比赛都安排在同一天，而不是分为三天，这给需要在街道上修建赛道的举办城市带来更小的干扰。
To engage spectators, a gimmick called the FanBoost allows fans to vote for their favorite drivers; the top three get a chance to bump their car’s power for two and a half seconds.
为了吸引观众，主办方搞了一个名为FanBoost的花招，让车迷投票选出他们最喜爱的车手，获选的前三名车手可加大他们汽车的马力2秒半钟。
“We have 1.4 billion people,” said Steven Lu, chief executive of the China Racing team. “If even .0001 percent of them vote, that’d be enough to win.”
中国赛车队经理吕洋(Steven Lu)说，“我国有14亿人口。即使只有十万分之一的人投票，就足够能赢。”
The fan favorites proved to be di Grassi, Bruno Senna and Katherine Legge, one of two women in the 20-car race.
赛车迷们最终选出的车手是迪·格拉斯、布鲁诺·塞纳(Bruno Senna)，以及凯瑟琳·莱格(Katherine Legge)，她是参赛的20名车手中的两名女性之一。
For the series, Michelin designed an 18-inch all-weather tire intended to last an entire race. Each Formula One car receives 52 tires per race weekend; Formula E cars receive 10.
米其林为这个车赛系列设计了一种18英寸的全天候轮胎，轮胎能持续整个赛程。一级方程式参赛车一个周末可能需要52个轮胎，而电动方程式赛车只需要10个。
All drivers drove a version of the Spark-Renault SRT_01E, equipped with a battery weighing nearly 800 pounds. It has enough power for 20 to 30 minutes of hard racing, so drivers switched cars midway through, substituting the poetry of Formula One pit stop tire changes for a hop into another vehicle.
所有车手开的都是斯帕克-雷诺(Spark-Renault)SRT_01E型车，其上的电池重200公斤，可供20到30分钟的全力比赛，所以车手需要在半程时换车，把一级方程式停站换车胎的表演变成车手跳进另一辆车。
Ho-Pin Tung, a Dutch driver of Chinese descent on the China Racing team, said that the best drivers in this series would be those who mastered the ability to manage the battery’s energy.
中国赛车队的荷兰籍华裔车手董荷斌(Ho-Pin Tung)说，这个系列车赛的最佳车手将是那些能完好地掌握电池能量使用的人。
“In race mode, we will be playing around with the power all the time,” he said. “We have six different engine mappings on the steering wheel, which we have to adjust while driving.”
他说，“在比赛状态，我们需要随时调整动力。我们的方向盘上有6种不同的引擎映像，开车时需要对其作出调整。”
The local fans were disappointed by China Racing’s finish, as Tung placed placing 16th and his teammate Nelson Piquet Jr. placed eighth. What caught Tung by surprise the first time he drove the SRT_01E was the sound of the wind in his helmet.
当地的赛车迷们对中国赛车队获得的结果颇为失望，董荷斌名列第16，他的队友小纳尔逊·皮奎特(Nelson Piquet Jr.)名列第8。董荷斌第一次驾驶SRT_01E时，令他吃惊的是头盔中风的声音。
“It’s always there of course, but normally there’s a screaming loud engine behind you,” he said.
他说，“当然，风声总是有的，但通常你还能听到身后振耳欲聋的引擎声。”
The electric car’s motor emits an 80-decibel whir, about the same as a garbage disposal, compared with Formula One cars that sound like jet engines.
电动车的发动机会发出80分贝的嗡嗡声，相当于厨房下水管装的废物处理机的声音，而一级方程式赛车的听起来像是喷气式飞机的发动机。
“I had no idea electric cars could be so fast,” said Wang Zhigang, 60, a Beijing native who had seen racing only on television. He added, however, that he would not buy one soon.
“我还真不知道电动车能这么快，”60岁的北京当地人王志刚(音译)说，他在电视上看到了车赛。不过，他补充说，他不会很快买电动车。
“The government gives subsidies for them,” he said, “but there are just too few charging stations. What would you do if you ran out of battery here?”
“政府给了它们补贴，”他说，“但是，充电站的太少了。如果电池没电了，你怎么办？”
But China is seeking to put five million electric cars on the road by 2020 in an effort to cut pollution. Indeed, Lu, whose team played a crucial role in bringing the race to Beijing, said that the Chinese government was willing to host because it wanted to promote electric cars.
不过，作为削减污染的努力，中国正在寻求到2020年让500万辆电动车上路。的确，吕洋说，中国政府愿意为这个锦标赛做东，是因为政府想推广电动汽车，吕洋的车队在把电动方程式车赛带到北京上起了关键作用。
Speaking of government officials, Lu said: “They said: ‘Wow, this is really new. It’s a golden opportunity. Let’s do that.’ ”
吕洋在提到政府官员时说，“他们说，‘哇，这东西真新。这是一次难得的机会。我们来干。’”
Stops on the Formula E circuit include Miami and Long Beach, Calif. The final race is in London in June.
电动方程式赛车锦标赛站还包括美国的迈阿密和加州长滩。最后一站是明年6月在伦敦。
A few years ago, few believed this series could come to fruition. Standing on a hastily built viewing platform, Lu was optimistic, saying, “It’s real, it’s fast, and it’s the future.”
几年前，很少有人相信这个车赛系列会成为现实。站在一个仓促修建的观众台上的吕洋非常乐观，他说，“这是真的，电动车也很快，它是未来。”
