ABT CUPRA scores first Formula E points of the season in Tokyo

A perfect Formula E premiere in Tokyo and a strong race day for ABT CUPRA: At the first event of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in Japan, Nico Müller finished in seventh place and thus scored the first six points for the team and manufacturer Mahindra Racing. The Swiss driver started the race from seventh position, showed some good overtaking and achieved his best result of the season so far with an optimally implemented strategy. His team-mate Lucas di Grassi was also fighting for points before he had to retire from the race after a collision through no fault of his own.
 
Around 50,000 fans on the grandstands, in the Fan Village and in the paddock – including Japan’s prime minister and many guests of ABT partner ZF – witnessed an impressive world championship premiere in Japan’s capital. After the season opener in Mexico, two races in Saudi Arabia, Lucas di Grassi’s home race in São Paulo and the debut in Tokyo, Formula E comes to Europe in two weeks’ time. With events at Misano, Monaco and Berlin, there are three highlights of the season on the calendar.
 
Thomas Biermaier, ABT CEO and Team Principal: “Congratulations to the entire team, who had a strong day today. Nico made it back into the duels of qualifying and then drove a clean race. He kept his head down and used a good strategy to score the first points for the team and also the Mahindra powertrain. Lucas would have deserved it as well because he was right behind Nico in the race when he was pushed by a rival and had to retire. It was nice to see that we were able to fight in the top ten today – that’s exactly where we want to be in two weeks’ time for the first of three races in Europe.”
 
Lucas di Grassi, #11 (Qualifying P14, Race DNF): “It was a day of light and shade. For me personally, it was annoying to get blocked in qualifying and then retire in the race after I got pushed by someone. But the positives outweigh the negatives: Nico scored the first points for our team. And more importantly, we can see that our hard work is paying off and that we can now overtake and compete. We will now take this momentum into the next races.”
 
Nico Müller, #51 (Qualifying P7, Race P7): “Good qualifying, good race and finally first points with seventh place – a nice reward for the whole team and their hard work over the past months. If I hadn’t got involved in a crash after the start, we could have even finished in the top five. We will now take this result and the positive thoughts with us to Misano.”