Nissan: Nissan e.dams puts both cars at the front of the Formula E pack

MEXICO CITY – Nissan showcased the performance side of Nissan Intelligent Mobility in the ABB FIA Formula E Championship in Mexico City this weekend.

Mexico’s best-selling automotive brand showcased the second-generation Nissan LEAF to fans and media at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in front of a sell-out crowd.

Nissan had an impressive presence in the Formula E E-village and welcomed guests and media to showcase Nissan Intelligent Mobility – the brand’s vision for changing how cars are driven, powered and integrated into society.

The fourth round of the series will be remembered for Nissan e.dams rookie driver Oliver Rowland’s stunning performance and emergence as a Formula E front-runner. The British ace recorded the fastest time out of all the 22 Formula E drivers in group qualifying before going fourth fastest in his first Super Pole session.

Rowland backed that up with an incredible start where he jumped from fourth to second place with an excellent braking maneuver at the first corner.

His Nissan e.dams teammate, and last round pole winner, Sebastien Buemi ran in fourth place at the start before the race was halted by a red flag after five minutes.

The race resumed after a 25-minute delay, and both Rowland and Buemi continued to run in the lead pack.

Rowland was closing on the race leader as the race drew to a close. Aiming to use every last kilowatt of available power – the team fell just short of chasing the victory.

Formula E races are scheduled for 45 minutes plus one lap. Had the race leader Pascal Wehrlein completed lap 43 before the clock wound down to zero – both Nissan e.dams would have finished the race at the front of the pack.

One additional lap had to be completed before the final lap white flag was flown. This resulted in both cars being unable to finish the race. Wehrlein also ran out of power on the last lap to miss the podium.

“We were only a few seconds away from getting an exceptional result today. We were pushing hard to maintain pace and putting pressure on the race leader,” Nissan global motorsport director, Michael Carcamo said.

“We thought we had a shot for the win, but we came up short. I’m incredibly proud of the guys for their performance today and for Oliver in particular – he is a young rookie, but he put in the type of performance that we knew he was capable of.

“For Nissan we are thrilled with the event here in Mexico City. A sell-out crowd of passionate fans, a great activation for the brand in the E-Village and brilliant venue for our media guests. This is the perfect example for us of why Formula E is so attractive as a platform.”

Today’s Mexico City E-Prix continued the dramatic fifth season of the all-electric street racing championship. The weekend produced the series’ fourth different winner in four races and had a final corner, last lap pass for the lead.

“When we look at the whole result it is disappointing, but we have a lot of positives to look back on from today,” said Nissan e.dams team principal, Jean-Paul Driot.

“Both cars were quick all day from practice to qualifying and the race. We now have to focus on our next race in Hong Kong.

“The other positive today was the performance of Oliver. We knew that he was quick, but he didn’t get the opportunity to conduct a lot of pre-season testing. What he did today was amazing, and we’re disappointed for him that he didn’t get the result he truly deserved.”

The Nissan e.dams team heads back to work on Sunday with a full day of testing with Sebastien Buemi and Oliver Rowland at the wheel to prepare for the next round of the championship in Hong Kong on March 9

DRIVER QUOTES
Sebastien Buemi
“It is obviously disappointing before we clearly showed today that the performance is there. It is a shame, but we’ll work hard to understand what happened.

“We have shown we certainly deserve to be on the podium and when we make that happen, it will be very rewarding. Now we’ll come back tomorrow, get back to work and go testing to try to improve continually.

“Oliver did a brilliant job this weekend, and I feel sorry for him because he really deserved a podium. But this is racing, and we have to move on but having two cars at the front of the pack is certainly great for the team.”

Oliver Rowland
“The most important thing for me to take away from the day is the fact I was able to show strong pace throughout the entire day.

“I had the pace in qualifying, I was fast in the race and had a good turn one. I was pretty comfortable with what I had, and all the ingredients are there for me to have a good season.
“This is my first year, and I’m still learning. Sometimes mistakes are made, and we learn from them to come back even stronger.”

About Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
Nissan is a global full-line vehicle manufacturer that sells more than 60 models under the Nissan, INFINITI and Datsun brands. In fiscal year 2017, the company sold 5.77 million vehicles globally, generating revenue of 11.9 trillion yen. On April 1, 2017, the company embarked on Nissan M.O.V.E. to 2022, a six-year plan targeting a 30% increase in annualized revenues to 16.5 trillion yen by the end of fiscal 2022, along with cumulative free cash flow of 2.5 trillion yen. As part of Nissan M.O.V.E. to 2022, the company plans to extend its leadership in electric vehicles, symbolized by the world’s best-selling all-electric vehicle in history, the Nissan LEAF. Nissan’s global headquarters in Yokohama, Japan, manages operations in six regions: Asia Oceania; Africa, the Middle East India; China; Europe; Latin America; and North America. Nissan has partnered with French manufacturer Renault since 1999 and acquired a 34% stake in Mitsubishi Motors in 2016. Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi is today the world’s largest automotive partnership, with combined sales of more than 10.6 million vehicles in calendar year 2017.

Media contacts
Anna Teslik
Global motorsports communications manager
Phone: +33 7 7614 7286
email: ATeslik@nissan-europe.com

Paul Ryan
Global motorsports press officer
Phone: +1 678 644 0404
email: paul@nismosupport.com

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