Rounds 3 and 4 of Season 11 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship are taking place under the lights of Jeddah this Friday and Saturday, with newcomers Lola Yamaha ABT looking to continue to improve on-track performance amidst a number of firsts for the series.
This is the first time Formula E has visited the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, a 3.001km, 19 turn track with long, fast straights and technical chicanes on the coast of the Red Sea. Another first for the series is the anticipated introduction of PIT BOOST, where each driver will need to complete a mandatory 30-second, 600kW boost in the pitlane, giving an extra 10 percent of energy.
Lola Yamaha ABT is also welcoming Colombian racer, Tatiana Calderón, who will be taking part in the Rookie Free Practice session and whose wide-ranging experience will offer a different perspective and valuable feedback for the team.
Lucas di Grassi, #11:
“The combination of a new venue and the addition of PIT BOOST for the first race on Friday is sure to bring even more unpredictability, which could be beneficial to us given the grid place penalty we have for this race after changing the motor in Mexico. We expect the race on Saturday, which doesn’t feature the pitstop, to be more of a peloton style race and very tactical, so we will push as much as we can to get a positive result.”
Zane Maloney, #22:
“I’m really looking forward to racing at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit once again, having competed here previously in Formula 2, though on a different version of the track. After qualifying ninth in Mexico, we know the pace is there but unfortunately issues meant we lost a few places. We have since re-grouped as a team and worked hard to improve ahead of our first double-header.”
Mark Preston, Motorsport Director, Lola Cars:“As is to be expected from any new team, we’ve faced issues over the first two rounds of the season, however, we’ve also shown a lot of pace and promise. We’ve spent a lot of time developing and improving in the gap since Mexico and look forward to continuing to progress here in Jeddah.”
Thomas Biermaier, CEO, ABT:
“Being at a new circuit with a new strategic race element we see as a positive, as it is something unknown for all of the teams. We hope that this, combined with the work we’ve put in between Mexico and the Jeddah E-Prix will help us to push forwards as a ream and achieve positive results over the two races.”
The races take place at 20:05 local time (17:05 GMT) on both Friday 14th and Saturday 15th February. Find out how to watch where you are here.
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