Oliver Rowland produced another fantastic performance for Nissan in the second Berlin E-Prix over the weekend, taking his sixth podium finish of the 2023/24 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.
Teammate Sacha Fenestraz also showed strong pace and looked set for a good result, before being pushed into the wall and forced to retire.
A frustrating qualifying gave the Nissan Formula E Team duo a tough task at the Tempelhof Airport Street Circuit, with Rowland lining up 16th on the grid, one position ahead of Fenestraz.
Following his third-placed finish from 15th on the grid in the first race of the Berlin double header, Rowland made up 13 positions the following day, to again finish third, taking a total of 30 points from the weekend.
Meanwhile, Fenestraz was aiming for a fifth consecutive points finish and looked set to take a strong haul. However, while involved in an intense battle for position, a competitor made contact with the side of the #23 Nissan e-4ORCE 04, sending Fenestraz into the wall and out of the race.
Tommaso Volpe, managing director and team principal of the Nissan Formula E Team, said: “Another race brilliantly managed by the team and a great result. That’s six podiums for Oli this season and two this weekend! It was great to have Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida here with us to see our performance and celebrate the podium.
Fantastic races
”Qualifying was obviously not so good, but we knew we had a strong race pace and could recover. We went with an aggressive strategy and it paid off with Oli in both races. On the other side of the garage, today was a bit frustrating and a real shame for Sacha – he drove two fantastic races, but results were compromised by incidents in both events. He will get the results he deserves soon.”
Oliver Rowland said: “Our strategy on Sunday was a little bit different from Saturday, I kept it calm for the first few laps and then went on a mission to try to work my way to the front. It was a really quick race, again tough and intense but a lot of fun.
“Everyone was aggressive, there was a lot of barging and fighting for position, but I enjoyed it and I’m delighted to be on the podium for the second time this weekend.”
Sacha Fenestraz added: “We had a strong day on Sunday and it was looking like we were going to score plenty of points. I was under control with the energy management, feeling good in the car and ready to attack the final few laps, but unfortunately the contact pushed me into the wall and our race was over.
First visit
”It’s frustrating to have this continued bad luck and I feel we deserved more. Top five was possible again today, so we’ll keep working and hopefully it will go our way next time out.”
Formula E returns in two weeks’ time as the series heads to China, making its first visit to the Shanghai International Circuit on May 24-26.