- Nelson Piquet Jr claims fourth place for Panasonic Jaguar Racing at the Marrakesh E-Prix
- Panasonic Jaguar Racing move up to fourth position in the ABB FIA Formula E Championship team standings
- Nelson Piquet Jr secures the VISA fastest lap of the race
Marrakesh, Saturday 13 January: In an exciting round of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship series, Nelson Piquet Jr. secured fourth position for Panasonic Jaguar Racing in his third appearance for the British team at the Circuit International Automobile Moulay El Hassan.
Starting the Marrakesh E-Prix with Nelson in seventh and team-mate Mitch Evans in ninth position, both drivers made good progress in the early stages of the race gaining valuable places, with Nelson working hard to move towards the front of the grid.
Mitch encountered early lap contact which bent his car's steering. Coupled with some energy management challenges, the team chose to pit him a lap earlier than planned. Shortly after his stop, a full course yellow flag slowed the grid, which dropped Mitch out of the position scoring positions. He finished the E-Prix in 14th.
Nelson pushed hard in the closing laps with a potential podium in his sights. He pushed the Jaguar I-TYPE 2 to secure the fastest lap of the race and narrowly missed out on third to Sam Bird who finished less than a second ahead.
Panasonic Jaguar Racing had another promising weekend ending the race fourth in the driver standings and fourth in the ABB FIA Formula Championships team standings with Nelson Piquet Jr. winning the VISA Fastest Lap trophy.
Nelson Piquet Jr, #3: "The Jaguar I-TYPE 2 was very strong in the second part of the race and I'm really happy. The team has been doing an amazing job, working really hard and progressing every weekend. The car is evolving a lot and the set-up is getting better at each race. There are lots of new members in the team that are getting used to Formula E, so I'm really happy to be sustaining the positive momentum since Hong Kong and hopefully we will be fighting for podiums in the future."
Mitch Evans, #20: "The race was OK. We had a couple of laps where we were high in consumption and we are not sure why. Our strategy was to go a lap longer like everyone else but we had to pit a lap earlier than expected. Nelson had a great race, so I'm pleased for him and the team. We will look at all the data from this weekend and hopefully in Santiago we will be fighting for the points again."
James Barclay, Panasonic Jaguar Racing Team Director: "Both drivers started the race really well, gaining places in the first few laps which was important for our track positioning. Nelson had a fantastic car change, came out in fourth place and from there he settled into a really good rhythm and energy management, meaning that he could push right up to the finish of the race. The podium was so close. What I'm really positive about is that we have a car, a team and drivers that are capable of getting on the podium. We saw that again today so we take that as a massive step forward and I wish we could go racing again tomorrow."
On Sunday 14 January, Panasonic Jaguar Racing will return to the Marrakesh track for a rookie test with Pietro Fittipaldi and Paul Di Resta. FanBoost opens for the fourth E-Prix of the season at 17:00 GMT on Monday 29 January and closes at 16:10 GMT on Saturday 3 February.
Tweet your boost using #MitchEvans or #NelsonPiquetJr and #FanBoost, or visit: http://fanboost.fiaformulae.com/
-Ends-
For further information about Panasonic Jaguar Racing, please contact:
Phoebe Eaton, Race Team Media Officer, Panasonic Jaguar Racing
Tel: +44 (0) 7825 255 553
Email: phoebe.eaton@jaguarracing.com
Adrian Atkinson, Global PR Manager, Panasonic Jaguar Racing
Tel: +44 (0) 7979 554 005
Email: aatkins5@jaguarlandrover.com
NOTES TO EDITORS
ABOUT PANASONIC JAGUAR RACING
Jaguar returned to racing in October 2016, becoming the first premium manufacturer to join the all-electric FIA Formula E Championship street racing series.
Jaguar's Formula E programme will create tangible R&D benefits for the electrification of future Jaguar Land Rover road cars and is designed around the team's founding principle, 'Race to Innovate'.
Manufacturers can design their own powertrain, which includes the motor, transmission, inverter and the rear suspension. Common components across all teams to control costs include the carbon fibre chassis and battery. The focus is on developing electric vehicle powertrains.
Beyond its all-electric concept, Formula E is unique in the world of motorsport for its choice of venues. With the exception of the Mexico E-Prix, every round of the championship takes place on temporary street circuits in the centre of the world's major cities. All track action including practice, qualifying and racing takes place in a single day. Beginning on December 2, the 2017/18 calendar includes 14 races in 11 cities, including double-header races in Hong Kong and New York.