Lola Yamaha ABT adds to points tally in Monaco

Despite a challenging start to the day, a well-executed race across all parts of the team resulted in Lucas di Grassi securing two points for Lola Yamaha ABT in the Teams’ Championship and four points for Lola in the Manufacturers’ Championship.

During FP2, a technical issue affected Zane’s brakes and he hit the barrier approaching Casino Square. The damage to the car and tight turnaround time between sessions meant he was unable to take part in qualifying and started P20. Lucas qualified P10 in his group and ultimately lined up on the grid in P17.

In an action-packed race, both cars initially focused on saving energy. Lucas took Attack Mode in the final third of the race, before coming in to take Pit Boost. The Brazilian driver crossed the line in P11 but penalties further up the field meant he was ultimately classified in P9, scoring two points for Lola Yamaha ABT. On the other side of the garage, Zane went to take his Pit Boost as soon as the pit window opened, then taking his Attack Mode on his out lap. Unfortunately, he received a drive-through penalty for a state-of-charge infraction and ended up in P13.

Lucas di Grassi, #11: “It started as a very difficult day, with the team having to work very hard to repair one of the cars and my performance in qualifying wasn’t great. However, it turned out to be a good race which we executed as well as we could, finishing P9 and scoring two points. Our target is to score points so we can be happy that we accomplished this today and will keep pushing when everything starts again tomorrow.”

Zane Maloney, #22: “Day one finished in Monaco. I lost brakes in FP2 which means we had quite a big crash and couldn’t take part in qualifying. It is very important to get as many laps as possible in Monaco and obviously this also affected our race. We maximised what we could and overall I think we had a very good race but unfortunately, we got a drive through penalty which was a shame as, with a lot of other penalties ahead, we could have finished in the points. We now move on to tomorrow where hopefully we will have good reliability and I can get a chance to fulfil the potential of the car.”

Mark Preston, Team Principal, Lola Yamaha ABT: “It's been a mixed day for the team, with the crash in FP2 meaning Zane couldn’t take part in qualifying however, the mechanics did a fantastic job repairing the car so he was able to take part in the race. In the race both sides of the garage executed their strategies well enabling Lucas to secure two important points for the team. Unfortunately, despite the positive performance in the race, Zane got a state of charge penalty and was unable to finish in the points today. The team will now work hard overnight to see where we can continue to improve ahead of the second race in Monaco tomorrow.”

The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship continues tomorrow with another race around the streets of Monaco, with qualifying at 10:40 CEST and the race at 15:05 CEST. Find out where to watch the action where you are here.