In a wild race, Nisan Formula E Team scored points in the inaugural Hyderabad E-Prix, with Norman Nato finishing seventh. In the meantime, Sacha Fenestraz had podium ambitions, running fourth in Round 4 of Season 9 until getting involved in an accident and recovering to finish 12th.
Nato, who began the race in the fourteenth position, proceeded to demonstrate the car’s swift race pace. Despite being struck and forced to pit with a flat tire midway through the race, the Frenchman fought back to finish eighth and earn his first points for the team, plus a bonus point for the fastest lap of the race.
Fenestraz once again excelled in qualification, advancing to the Duels for the second time this season. Due to track restrictions penalties for other drivers, he started the race in fourth place despite narrowly missing out on advancing to the semifinals.
Sacha Fenestraz
In the early stages of the race, the Franco-Argentine challenged the top three after a great start. Unfortunately, he was involved in an accident and lost several positions before recovering to finish 12th.
Tommaso Volpe, team principal and managing director of the Nissan Formula E Team, stated, “We never look for excuses when we don’t perform, but this time the team performed flawlessly throughout the entire weekend, with the exception of a minor issue in qualifying with Norman.” “Both drivers fought hard during the race, with Sacha vying for the podium and Norman regaining numerous positions. Unfortunately, Sacha was unable to achieve a successful outcome through no fault of his own. Today, he had the potential to score a significant number of points. Despite a pit stop, Norman displayed a superb performance, gaining several positions to finish in seventh place. We know we have a fast car, so we’ll attempt to return to the top in Cape Town.”
DRIVER QUOTES
“We had a tremendous opportunity for a podium result or at least a top-five finish, so the general sentiment is disappointment. It’s tough to swallow, but we know the performance is there because this is racing. It was my second time in the Duels this season, and I believe we should have advanced, but I made a mistake in Turns 1 and 2, and we were eliminated. Despite this, P4 was still an excellent starting position, and we appeared to be in good shape for the race. We put together everything, but in the end, it was out of our control. Now all we need to do is keep our heads down and continue forward; we have a good car and a great crew, we’ve been making rapid progress, and I’m confident that the results will be forthcoming.”
Sacha Fenestra
“I’m pleased to have scored my first points of the season, but I feel as though I could have scored more today. We were in the top 10 halfway through the race before I was struck and received a flat tire, forcing us to pit. This lost us a great deal of time and positions, so the fact that we were able to recover to finish seventh demonstrates how well the car and strategy performed. The Safety Car arrived at the perfect time for us, but I still had to manage the race and avoid danger in order to reclaim lost positions. We still have room for improvement, particularly in qualifying, but the car is fast and has the potential to win many points if we can qualify closer to the front. We are now looking forward to Cape Town and continuing our expansion there.”
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