Following their success at the inaugural Cape Town E-Prix last month, with Sacha Fenestraz securing pole position from Julius Baer and becoming the second youngest pole winner in the championship, Nissan were hoping to harness the potential of their car in Brazil that they know is in the car.
Things started promisingly, as both drivers set fast lap times in both free practice sessions.
Then came qualifying, where Norman Nato missed his first appearance of the season by minimal time margin, but managed to start eighth after penalties were applied to those higher up the grid.
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Out of Plans
Moments later, however, Nato was involved in a first-lap collision that took him out of the race in dramatic fashion. “Argh, Rene [Rast] squeezed me,” the Frenchman said on the team radio after the shunt.
“Lining up in P8, I was on the tricky side of the grid, so I didn’t make a great start and was immediately involved in a very close battle,” Nato explained after the São Paulo race.
“Going into Turn 3, the driver in front of me had to stop sharply to avoid contact and I had nowhere to go. I tried to go around him, but it was too late and, unfortunately, we made contact that ended my race. It wasn’t the day we had hoped for, but we are making progress and will look to do better in Berlin and score good points after this short break,” he added.
Pressure on Sacha
With a Nissan out, all eyes were on Fenestraz, but just laps later, the young French-Argentinean made contact with the wall, which also ended his race.
“It was an unfortunate event for the whole team, as Norman and I went out early,” lamented Fenestraz, who mentioned earlier how excited he was for the sixth round of the championship, as it was the closest home race he had.
“It’s a great shame because we were hoping for better after our solid performances in recent rounds. We know there will be ups and downs in this championship, and that’s exactly what happened here,” he added.
Despite the difficulties, the Nissan drivers are already preparing for the doubleheader in Berlin, the next stop of Formula E season 9.
