- Models
Challenging weekend, Turvey finishes with consistency
FIA ABB Formula E championship finished its fourth race of the 2019-2020 season. NIO 333 Formula E team faced the toughest battle this season so far at the only permanent circuit visit of the year. Oliver Turvey battled through technical issues during practice and qualifying, finished 13th overall. Chinese driver Ma Qinghua failed to complete the race with a crash 10 minutes before the finish.
Prior to the weekend, the team expected to face a challenging weekend at the only permanent circuit of the season. However, due to technical issues happened in the second practice session, which directly affected Oliver Turvey’s qualifying flying lap, the team could only manage 20th and 21st on the grid.
The race commenced under a good weather condition with Ma and Turvey racing with a set pace while trying to catch competitors. Ma had to serve a drive through penalty due to a battery overpower infringement during the race and crashed at turn 3 with only 10 minutes to go. Turvey managed to finish at 13th in the final classification with consistent performance.
After constant challenges surrounding the first race of the Lunar New Year, the team operated by Chinese motorsport industry giant Lisheng Racing Co. LTD saw the clear distance to the Formula E leaders. Step by step, the Chinese team is focused on closing the gap and prepare for the next level competition when the series enters a new era as a World Championship. This is every team member’s mission.
The world’s premier electric motorsport championship will return to Africa in two weeks with a visit to Moroccan city Marrakesh. NIO 333 Formula E team is ready to be back in the fight.
Oliver Turvey, #3
Difficult day, we had some issues in free practice. And then an issue in Qualifying prevented us from doing the Qualifying lap. Started at the back, the initial part of the race was going reasonable. But the middle part of the race to the final part of the race we struggled again for pace. We managed to finish and bring the car home. We tried few things and can hopefully learn from this race. There are certainly still areas we need to work on and improve our race pace.
Ma Qinghua, #33
It’s a tough weekend. We had a number of issues since the Shakedown, affected the balance of the car and the performance in qualifying. About the crash, I tried my best to react, but it was impossible to avoid contact on the extremely dirty surface. It was a shame but gave me quite some experience.
Vincent Wang, NIO 333 FE Team CEO
Fourth round into the 2019-2020 ABB Formula E championship, and this is only the start of our challenging journey. Our rivals were still finding their rhythm in Saudi Arabia and Chile, meaning an unpredictable competitive order. However, with the order now set, we face a difficult season ahead. We knew the NIO FE-005 machine would struggle at high speed circuits, it was predicted prior to the weekend, adding the factor of technical issues, made the weekend even more challenging. Overall, Oliver Turvey showed a consistent performance, Ma Qinghua unfortunately had a crash in the race. With some strategies in mind, we are confident to be able to make an improvement in Marrakesh and we hope to produce a good performance there.
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