Fenestraz in the top-10 as Nato also shows good pace
DIRIYAH, Saudi Arabia (January 31, 2023) – Nissan Formula E Team secured their first points of the season in Round 3 of the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, with Sacha Fenestraz taking eighth in Diriyah.
After a difficult Friday, the Franco-Argentine driver qualified 12th for the second race of the event and displayed excellent speed to move through the field and score his maiden points for the team.
Meanwhile, in the first race of the double-header under the lights, Frenchman Norman Nato also showed his potential, moving up four positions to finish just outside the points in 12th. He repeated the performance on Saturday, again improving by four places.
“We’ve got mixed feelings from this double-header,” said Tommaso Volpe, managing director, Nissan Formula E Team. “We came to Diriyah with some new processes, which worked really well, and we’re making progress at every race. Qualifying was a bit frustrating this weekend, we made a few mistakes but the race pace was really good for both drivers and they were able to move forwards. We’re delighted for Sacha and his first points finish today – it was a great race from him, but we know that we can achieve more. We had a good strategy and we felt strong as a team, and these are good signs for the rest of the season. It’s a long championship, though, so now we have to focus on the small details and continue making progress.
“We were also really happy to see our customer team McLaren take their first pole and podium in the sport, proving the pace of the Nissan e-4ORCE 04. Congratulations to them, and we’ll continue to work hard ahead of India in two weeks’ time. There’s still a lot of work to do to reach our full potential, but we are on the right path.”
Driver Quotes
Sacha Fenestraz
“I’m pleased with today’s result, scoring my first points for the team in Formula E. We could have done more in qualifying, but we should be happy with the progress we made and what we discovered over the weekend. We have good pace, especially in the races, but there’s still a lot to learn. The field is bunched so close together that if you make one small mistake in qualifying it can be really costly, but this weekend was a big improvement from Mexico. Hopefully we can continue this momentum in India and score even more points on a brand-new track there.”
Norman Nato
“It was an ok weekend, there’s a lot of positives for us to take and we know what we have to keep working hard for the races ahead. We need to understand the tires better in qualifying so we can realize our potential, as the race pace has been competitive. It’s still early in the season, so we always knew we would have things to work on. The field is so tight, a tenth can mean a lot in qualifying. We clearly have strong pace, we moved forwards on both days and I think if we started a few positions higher, then we would’ve had a really good chance to finish in the top-10. I’m happy for Sacha and the team for the first points of the season, and now we need to focus on India and being better there.”
About Nissan in Formula E
Nissan made its all-electric racing debut in Season 5 (2018/19) of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship, becoming the first and only Japanese manufacturer to enter the series.
In Season 7 (2020/21), Nissan announced its long-term involvement in Formula E and its commitment to the Gen3 era, which will run from Season 9 (2022/23) through to the end of Season 12 (2025/26) of the all-electric racing series.
In April 2022, Nissan acquired the e.dams race team, with the Japanese automaker taking full ownership of its involvement in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.
In June 2022, Nissan announced it would supply its Nissan EV powertrain technology to McLaren Racing for the entirety of the Formula E Gen3 era.
For Season 9 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, the Nissan Formula E drivers will be Norman Nato and Sacha Fenestraz.
Nissan races in Formula E to bring the excitement and fun of zero-emission electric vehicles to a global audience. As part of its goal to achieve carbon neutrality across its operations and the life cycle of its products by 2050, Nissan intends to electrify every all-new vehicle offering by the early 2030s in key markets. The Japanese automaker aims to bring its expertise in transferring knowledge and technology between the racetrack and road for better electric vehicles for customers.
About Formula E
The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship became the first global sport to be certified with a net zero carbon footprint from inception back in 2020, having invested in certified climate-protecting projects in all race markets to offset emissions from every season of electric racing.
All cars in the championship are powered by electricity, with the series acting as a competitive platform to test and develop the latest in electric technology.
The World’s greatest manufacturers race against each other on street circuits and Formula E promotes the adoption of sustainable mobility in city centres in a bid to combat air pollution and lessen the effects of climate change.