Lola Yamaha ABT made its ABB FIA Formula E World Championship debut in a thrilling season opener at Sao Paulo’s Anhembi Sambadrome circuit today. The race bore mixed results for drivers Zane Maloney and Lucas di Grassi but marked a major milestone for the team on its quest to become a title contending manufacturer.
Having qualified 19th and 14th respectively, Maloney and di Grassi both safely navigated the opening laps of a new era for electric motorsport on a day that saw Lola return to top tier competition for the first time since 2013.
Astute use of his first 350kW Attack Mode boost saw rookie Maloney running as high as fifth in the standings, while the natural racecraft previously demonstrated in Formula 2 allowed him to navigate an attritional race that featured two red flags and saw seven other cars fail to reach the finish line.
Among that number was hometown hero Lucas di Grassi, who after initially showing promising pace, was unfortunate to suffer from a technical issue which saw him retire after 5 laps.
With di Grassi out it was left to Maloney to hand Lola Yamaha ABT its first finish as a manufacturer in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, crossing the line in a highly respectable 12th place, following a drive through penalty due to overpower during Attack Mode.
Lucas Di Grassi, said: “It was a hard weekend for our first race as we showed some potential in qualifying being very close to our rivals, missing the duels by less than two tenths of a second. Starting from the middle of the pack we had a good first part of the race until we had an issue that forced us to retire but I’m very confident that with more work and further development we have a competitive package which is the important thing for the next few races to come, so we have to keep on working and keep our heads down.”
Zane Maloney, commented: “It was my first race in Formula E and very much a chaotic one. We had a good strategy and executed it well but we got very unlucky with certain things that are in our control but of course as a new manufacturer and a new team, we are going to face difficulties in the early stages. We had a drive through penalty which made us lose a lot of positions but at the same time the team did an amazing job. We’ve continued to move forward with every lap and I’m looking forward to Mexico. There are some clear areas for us and myself to improve, and I’m glad to have my first proper taste of Formula E and be able to understand a bit more and work on myself as a driver to become better.”
“It was quite an eventful race for Lola in its first race back in international motorsport since 2013. Overall we did a great job and achieved a good result in qualifying with Lucas. Unfortunately in the race we had a software issue with Lucas which meant he had to retire but we had plenty to look forward to as he was quick and we can see him going even quicker” explained, Mark Preston, Motorsport Director at Lola Cars. “Zane had quite an eventful race and he did a great job, handling the pressure well of arriving in a series so different to everything else he’s done. The whole team performed very well this weekend given the difficulties of coming into the series as a new manufacturer and a new team. We are going away happy but with a lot of work to do, we can see quite a lot of performance still left on the table which makes us excited for the future.”
Thomas Biermaier, CEO of ABT, continued: “In general it was a hard race for us as Lucas was in a good position before issues stopped him. Zane had a really good first race, especially considering it’s never easy for a rookie to finish in this position in their debut. In general, the team did a great job. Clearly there is still some work to do but we showed real potential and will take what we learnt here this weekend to develop and improve for Mexico.”
The team’s next outing will come in the new year, when Round 2 of the championship takes place in Mexico City on January 11th.
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