Lucas di Grassi secures first Formula E victory for Lola Yamaha ABT in Shanghai

Lola Yamaha ABT achieved its first victory in Formula E after Lucas di Grassi took the chequered flag after starting in P19, marking the Brazilian driver’s 15th win in the series.

With a wet start to the race, Lucas initially saved energy towards the back of the pack after the team gambled with a dry set-up. As the track dried up, he showed good pace and took a late Attack Mode from P15 working his way through the field to P3. Following a full course yellow, he took his second Attack Mode and soon lunged past Joel Eriksson (Envision Racing) at the hairpin before sweeping around the outside of Jean-Éric Vergne (Citroen Racing) in Turn 1 on the final lap before crossing the line to claim victory.

It was however a day of mixed emotions for the team. After showing good pace in qualifying and lining up on the grid in P8, Zane suffered a suspension failure towards the end of the race and stopped on the start-finish straight, causing the full course yellow.

Lucas di Grassi, #11: “An amazing day here in Shanghai. We achieved the first ever victory for Lola Yamaha ABT in a very difficult race starting from P19. Half of the race was wet and half dry and there were many moments I thought I was not going to make it. I kept believing and pushing until the end, managing to take the lead on the final lap and win the race. Thank you so much to all the fans for the support and to the team for all of their hard work, this victory means a lot to us and we will keep on pushing until the very end.”

Zane Maloney, #22: “We had a very good morning here in Shanghai and did a good job as a team to maximise everything we could to qualify in P9 and start on the grid in P8. In the race we were looking decent at the beginning, making up one or two places, being quite efficient with energy and feeling good in the car. Of course, the track dried up a lot and those who gambled on the dry pressures won out in that sense and came flying through the field but we were still looking good in terms of energy and saving tyres to then push at the end of race. Unfortunately, we had a suspension failure causing a DNF which was very disappointing for us. However, I think we can be very proud of the weekend as a whole, being up there in every session and maximising performance. We now look forward to Tokyo and Yamaha’s home race.”

Mark Preston, Team Principal, Lola Yamaha ABT, said: “I am so proud of the whole team today. To get the first victory for Lola Yamaha ABT in Formula E here in Shanghai was a fantastic moment for the team and a result of the hard work every single person has been putting in. On Zane’s side of the garage, we showed strong pace in 300kW and just missed out on the duels, starting in P8 before the suspension failure unfortunately ended his race. With Lucas, the team made a bold strategy decision to start with a dry set-up and he drove an excellent race enabling him to claim the top step on the podium. We will now carry this momentum to Tokyo in three weeks where we hope to secure a great result for our partner Yamaha in their home race.”

The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship continues in Tokyo on July 25th and 26th.