On the road to London: Stéphane Sarrazin
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Versatile veteran Stéphane Sarrazin comes into the London ePrix hoping he can go one better than last year and take a race win in the British capital, after the disappointment of last season’s finale.
After a crazy, rain-affected qualifying session ahead of last year’s Sunday race, Sarrazin sat on pole – his first in Formula E – and actually crossed the line in first place at the end of the race. But he was unable to celebrate, as he had hit 0% usable energy while holding off Sam Bird, so was handed a penalty.
The wily Frenchman actually used that disappointment to spur him on this season. After an inaugural campaign where he often showed pace but not much consistency, he has been one of the most impressive drivers in his sophomore campaign. He lies sixth in the standings and has taken points in every race, through a mix of speed and maturity behind the wheel.
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Sarrazin carried on where he left off at the end of season 1, impressing in qualifying to line up sixth on the grid, missing Super Pole by just 0.1 of a second. He made a poor start, losing two places, and was then involved in several scraps for position until the mandatory car swap phase. Unfortunately disaster would then strike, a slow stop dropping him to P12. He kept fighting though, eventually passing Robin Frijns at the very last corner to take P10 on track, which became 9th post-race.
Sarrazin went from joy to despair back to joy in a crazy Malaysian race. He continued his strong single-lap pace with second on the grid, but a car problem on the dummy grid meant a pit lane start. However he never gave up, fighting hard throughout the race and also avoiding the errors that took many others drivers out of the race, eventually finishing a highly impressive 4th.
Sarrazin had had a difficult qualifying session in Uruguay, but managed to get 13th position on the grid. Throughout the race, Sarrazin improved on that, overtaking a number of cars. After pitting, one of the first cars to do so, Sarrazin had gotten himself into the points. The Frenchman finished ninth to make it three points finishes in three races.
Sarrazin qualified fourth in Argentina, just ahead of new team-mate Mike Conway who also made it into the Super Pole session. Battery issues would plague the French driver throughout the race but despite this, he managed to keep his cool in true Sarrazin-style and finish in the same position he had started, P4.
Mexico City would see a ninth place on the grid for the Venturi driver, and in the opening stages he concentrated on maintaining this position and also keeping life in his battery, entering the pits in the same position. A steering wheel issue at the stop caused him to lose a few places, but he battled back to P10 on track, promoted to P9 after the race.
Long Beach finally saw Sarrazin’s maiden podium in the series after many events where he had shown speed, but not had the requisite luck. Fourth on the grid was converted to third when Antonio Felix da Costa was excluded from qualifying, and Sarrazin could move up into P2 during the first stint when Sam Bird made an error and hit the wall. After a late safety car restart, he tried to challenge Lucas di Grassi for a race win – but settled for second place and a place on the podium for the very first time in the series.
Paris was Sarrazin’s home race, but an accident in free practice put him on the back foot. He started fourth, but lost positions in the opening stint as he suffered from some car issues. In the second stint he was able to work his way up to fifth, scoring more valuable points in the championship.
Berlin was challenging once again, as another free practice crash was followed by a penalty for irregular tyre pressures in qualifying. Sarrazin started from the pits but yet again showed his trademark mix of speed and consistency, salvaging a point from the race and finishing in P10.
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After a very consistent season in which he has finished in the points in every single race, and given the impressive pace he showed in London last year, there is no reason to believe that Sarrazin will not challenge at the sharp end of the field in Battersea Park this weekend.
He will hope to not only take pole once again at a track that really suits his aggressive driving style, but also take a win that actually counts in London this time. The Frenchman’s maiden Formula E victory could be just days away.
Laurence Thorn | e-racing.net
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Images courtesy of Rajan Jangda
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