Panasonic Jaguar Racing endured a challenging weekend of racing as their consistent record of scoring points in each round of the 2017/2018 ABB FIA Formula E Championship came to an end.
Following a precautionary gearbox change Mitch Evans was penalised with a 10 place grid penalty which meant despite qualifying 12th he started the race at the back of the grid. Following an extraordinary effort from the race team, after suffering crashes to both cars in both practice sessions, Nelson Piquet Jr unfortunately was unable to qualify ahead of the race and ultimately started 18th.
After gaining two places at the start of the race, Mitch was caught in a first lap incident leading to an unscheduled nose change and after rejoining the race he produced a strong display of race-pace to bring his Jaguar I-TYPE 2 home in 15th. In the first half of the race Nelson showed good energy management. Following his mandatory car change on lap 25, he encountered issues with his seatbelts and for safety reasons was forced to retire.
Panasonic Jaguar Racing now move on to Berlin for the next round of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship with Nelson sitting seventh and Mitch eighth.The British team retain fifith place in the teams standings.
James Barclay, Team Director Panasonic Jaguar Racing: “It has been a really challenging day for the team but I have to thank everyone for the effort to get both cars on to the grid. Nelson’s accidents in practice and Mitch’s grid penalty really compromised our opportunity for more points. Nelson was making good progress in the race but after a successful car change his belts became loose which we need to investigate. On Mitch’s side, after the first lap he drove with great pace but was never really going to be able to catch up after the extra stop for a new nose cone. We have learnt valuable lessons and now look forward to a fresh start in Berlin.”
Mitch Evans, #20: “Today looked better after practice but qualifying was a bit of a challenge today. I made a good start to the race however the damage to my front wing led to my stop. The pace was strong, stronger than some of the guys at the front but it didn’t go in our favour today. The pace is there so let’s start afresh in Berlin.”
Nelson Piquet Jr, #3: “No points for the team today which is a shame. I made the team’s life difficult this morning with two accidents and no luck in the race. My crew were incredible today to turn both cars around in record time. I had seatbelt issues for the second race in a row and had to retire so not a great day all round.”
Source. Jaguar
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