The next podium position clinched by Lucas di Grassi and a strong comeback drive by Daniel Abt to seventh place: Team ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport managed a successful start to the 2017 motorsport year. With that, the South American and the German team remain the closest rivals of Sébastien Buemi and Renault.
Lucas di Grassi numbers among the winners of round three of the Formula E season held in Argentina. At noon the Brazilian clinched the first pole position in the electric racing series and a few hours later, in position three, celebrated his 15th podium finish, in total, in the 24th race – a record achievement. His teammate Daniel Abt completed the success of the only German outfit in the field with a strong seventh place.
As usual in Formula E, the spectators lining the 2,480-kilometre city street circuit and in front of television sets around the globe witnessed 37 action-packed and thrilling laps with numerous overtaking manoeuvres. After Lucas di Grassi had won the start he initially dropped to fifth place on the following laps. With a pit stop by his crew that was perfect as usual and a spirited overtaking manoeuvre the South American battled his way to the champagne party on the podium.
“This was a very good race even though, after pole position, it only turned out to be third place,” said Lucas di Grassi. “We have to acknowledge that we’re still chasing the two teams powered by Renault. That doesn’t mean we’re giving up, but that we’re going to work even harder on finally beating the leaders of the standings again. For today, we’re happy with the points for third place and pole position and are going home with pride.”
While di Grassi had slipped in free practice, which made his mechanics work an extra shift in outside temperatures of more than 30 degrees Celsius, Daniel Abt had the same misfortune in qualifying. The German, too, touched the wall in his ABT Schaeffler FE02, which meant having to settle for 16th on the grid. In the race Abt kept a cool head, stayed clear of all tussles and, making up nine positions, scored valuable points in seventh place. “A crazy race loaded with action, lots of fun and, in the end, a good seventh place – that’s a sweet reward for all the hard work done by the mechanics after the accident in qualifying,” said Daniel Abt.
Team boss Hans-Jürgen Abt’s summary after Formula E’s comeback following a more than three-month winter break is positive: “Congratulations to Lucas, Daniel and the whole team on this solid, strong team performance. After such a long break it’s not easy to be perfectly fit and to work with maximum concentration again – we managed to do that well today. However, that doesn’t mean we’re going to rest on this trophy and the points we scored. First thing Monday morning, we’re going to start giving our all again in order to battle for victory at the next Formula E event in Mexico.”
