Daniel Abt and Lucas di Grassi to contest their 50th joint race
The fifth round of the electric racing series to start in Hong Kong on Sunday
Eurosport to air live coverage, ARD to provide live streaming of the raceĀ
A unique occasion in Formula E: Next Sunday (March 10), in Hong Kong, Daniel Abt and Lucas di Grassi will contest their 50th race for Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler. No other team has competed in all of the races with the same driver pairing since the electric racing seriesā inaugural event in September 2014. At the round in Asia, Audi intends to extend its impressive track record. With 37 trophies clinched in 49 races, Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler is the most successful team in the international field. Lucas di Grassi has scored nine victories and his teammate Daniel Abt has won two. Plus, their tally includes eleven fastest race laps and five pole positions: an impressive track record to date, but thatās no reason for the Audi factory team to rest on its laurels. āNeedless to say, we intend to take the emotions and positive momentum from Lucasā last-second victory in Mexico with us. Even so, everything will be reset to zero in Hong Kong, because the trackās character is totally different to the one in Mexico,ā says Team Principal Allan McNish. āIām particularly excited to see Daniel (Abt), who has always done well in Hong Kong and, after his victory was taken away last time, he still has a score to settle there. From a team perspective, weād obviously like to make our 50th race a special one. With the win in Mexico and Danielās podium in Santiago, weāre headed in the right direction.ā For the first time, Hong Kong is not hosting the season opener, but a mid-season race. The Asian metropolis arguably provides the most colorful setting on the calendar: The paddock and race track in the heart of the city are located right on the waterfront around the famous Ferris wheel. The 1.860-kilometer circuit is narrow and challenging, which perfectly suits Daniel Abt and Lucas di Grassi: Both have been on podium before in Hong Kong. At the opening event of the fourth season in December 2017, Daniel Abt crossed the finish line as the winner, but was retrospectively stripped of his victory due to an administrative mistake of the team regarding the carās documentation. āIāve still got twenty-five points lying around in Hong Kong that Iād like to pick up this time,ā Daniel Abt says with a smile. āI think the track is cool and the atmosphere with the fans is fantastic, too. Lucas and I have always been pretty strong there and now that weāve overcome our somewhat bumpy start to the season, weāre planning to attack. Qualifying will play an important part, because overtaking in Hong Kong is difficult ā but weāve said that before at other races as well, only to find out otherwise.ā Still unforgotten is Lucas di Grassiās second place at the premiere in Hong Kong in 2016: Following a crash on the first lap, the Brazilian had to make an additional pit stop that included changing his front wing. With a bold strategy and perfect energy management, he fought back from the back of the field to finish on the podium. |
āThe whole team worked hard over the last few months. Now thatās paying off, because weāre in contention again for trophies and victories ā like most recently in Mexico,ā says Lucas di Grassi. āWe need to take this momentum to Hong Kong. Race after race, weāre seeing how unpredictable Formula E is. Weāre not going to budge an inch and give our all again. As always, weāre shooting for the biggest possible trophy.ā
In addition to the Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler factory team, the Envision Virgin Racing customer team with Sam Bird and Robin Frijns races with theĀ e-tronĀ FE05 that has been developed by Audi and its technology partner, Schaeffler. With a victory, plus a second and a third place, the squad is in second postion of the teamsā standings. Bird won the first race of the fourth season in Hong Kong. The fifth round of this Formula E season in Hong Kong will be held on Sunday as a matter of exception but, as always, it starts at 4 PM local time (9 AM CET) and lasts for 45 minutes plus one lap, as usual. Eurosport will air live coverage from Hong Kong. All international channels, including broadcast schedules, can be found online atĀ www.fiaformulae.com. |