Lola Yamaha ABT continues to push in second Saudi Arabian night race

Despite leaving Jeddah empty-handed, Lola Yamaha ABT has continued to develop to make improvements to qualifying and race pace.

Both cars were in qualifying group B, with the day starting out positively for Zane who narrowly missed out on the duels by 8 hundredths of a second, finishing fifth in the group. Lucas was just two and a half tenths behind but finished tenth. They therefore lined up on the starting grid in P10 and P19 respectively.

In the race, both sides of the garage executed their strategies well. With a good start, Zane made up two places while Lucas made up three places in the first few corners. Lucas took an early Attack Mode making his way effectively through the field, ending his first four-minute stint at the higher power in P4.

Zane was running well in P9 when contact with Marti from behind meant his rear end plate was damaged. He subsequently took Attack Mode where he was able to remain in the top ten but with around half the field then in attack he dropped back down the field. Following their second stints in attack Lucas was running P10 and Zane in P13 with a few laps to go but unfortunately they were unable to hold position, ultimately finishing P15 and P18 respectively.

Lucas di Grassi, #11: “We started the race very strong, coming all the way from the back up to P4 in our first Attack Mode. We had a good race and really did the best we could, pushing and fighting very hard but unfortunately the car is not quite there yet. We need to continue to work hard to improve the car, especially on performance laps, but we will get there, manage to score points and make all the Lola fans proud.”

Zane Maloney, #22: “Today the team had an amazing qualifying where we were able to really maximise the car, which was a good feeling. The first half of the race we were P8 having made up two places at the beginning and felt quite good in the pack but then when everyone took Attack Mode we struggled in 350kW so it was quite difficult for us. We also had a tear off from the visor which got stuck in the cooling which then led to us dropping back. Generally, the team are doing a great job, in races where everything matters we are a bit behind but everyone is working very hard to see what we can do to make small improvements. The team are working very well together which shows in qualifying when we have the performance and maximise everything. We will continue this way, keep in high spirits and keep pushing on.”

Mark Preston, Team Principal, Lola Yamaha ABT, said: “Overall it has been a positive weekend with Zane qualifying 10th today which is his highest position so far this season. The race was well executed by the team with a good race from the drivers, effective communication and well implemented strategy. We can come away feeling we are making progress in the background and are looking forward to the next races where we can continue to build on our processes.”

The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship continues in Madrid on March 21st.