Nissan Formula E Team scored its first victory of the Gen3 era as Oliver Rowland took the win in the first ever Misano E-Prix, while Sacha Fenestraz scored points in both races of the double-header.
Starting fifth for Saturday’s race at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, Rowland put in an excellent performance, showing strong pace and awareness throughout. Crossing the line in second place, Rowland became the official race winner after the disqualification of another driver.
The British racer was impressive again in today’s event, working his way through the field from 10th on the grid to lead. He was set to extend his championship advantage, but a technical issue with the data led to the car running out of energy on the final lap and stopping on track.
Sacha Fenestraz enjoyed a positive weekend in the #23 car. The Franco-Argentine racer battled hard to return to the points in ninth on Saturday, before making a strong step forward for today’s event. Starting 13th, Fenestraz more than held his own in a closely matched field, once again working through his way up to eventually clinch a solid haul of points in fifth.
In addition to the two races, the weekend featured an FP0 session, designed for young drivers to gain experience in Formula E machinery. The team’s reserve and simulator driver, Caio Collet, got his first taste of the Nissan e-4ORCE 04 during the session, helping the squad to prepare for the weekend.
The results in Italy see Rowland remain third in the Drivers’ Championship, nine points from the joint leaders. Meanwhile, the team sits fourth in the Teams’ Championship on 100 points. Formula E now travels to Monte-Carlo for the Monaco E-Prix, with the single-header event taking place on 27 April.
Tommaso Volpe, managing director and team principal, Nissan Formula E Team: “Overall it has been a very positive weekend for us. Oli performed amazingly yesterday, taking the official race win, our first since Nissan took full control of the team. Today was of course a frustrating one, a very small mistake cost us a potential fifth consecutive podium, which I think was definitely within reach today. However, he drove very well again, so big apologies to him for this.
“On Sacha’s side, he had a strong weekend, continuing on a positive trend. Following yesterday points, he improved further, made his way through the pack nicely and put together a top race. He made some great moves and fully deserved the top-five finish. We’ve improved a lot on the strategy side, so we’re feeling good at the moment and will keep working to have a successful event in Monaco in two weeks’ time.”
Oliver Rowland, driver, Nissan Formula E Team: “Overall we must be happy with our performance this weekend despite the frustrating end to today’s race. We’ve been in incredible form and to score 26 points at Misano is a positive thing. Our speed was great and the team got the strategy right in both races, so this is something we’ll look to keep up in the coming races. Unfortunately today, we had an issue at the start which caused a problem with the lap counter, meaning it thought we had one fewer lap to race than we actually did. We were so close to another win, but we’re proud of what we’ve achieved here and will continue to fight hard.”
Sacha Fenestraz, driver, Nissan Formula E Team: “To be in the points in both races this weekend is a step forward for me. In these kinds of races, it’s all about being in the right position at the right time to take advantage. I’ve learned a lot from Oli, and from my growing experience and having dropped back early on today, I fought to get up into the top-10. We’re happy with P5, it’s a good haul of points after a difficult few races leading into this. We’re growing at every event, so we’ll continue to work to be in a strong position in Monaco.”
Caio Collet, reserve and simulator driver, Nissan Formula E Team: “I was really happy to drive the Nissan e-4ORCE 04 for the first time in Free Practice 0. As a new track for the team, it was important for me to help collect data and follow the plan we had in place, which we did well. It was a great experience and I’m delighted to have helped the team. Looking forward to being back in the car soon!”
