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On the road to London: Daniel Abt

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Daniel Abt spent most of the season playing second fiddle to his championship contender team mate, ending most of the races in the second half of the top ten. Abt had still been focused on his own championship, though, and has taken two podiums of his own in this difficult season.

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After topping the times in the first qualifying group, Abt had to watch as the three other groups headed out and he was demoted to eleventh on the grid. The German stayed eleventh throughout the first stint, but was promoted to tenth after the midrace car swap. With Nico Prost retiring at the end of the race, Abt was promoted up another place, but was handed a ten second penalty for an unsafe release from the pits. He finished eleventh

Abt qualified tenth but was the ninth car on the grid after Stephane Sarrazin was forced to start from the pit lane. The German struggled with energy management in the first stint and was forced to pit early where disaster struck. The second car would not start and Abt lost 22 seconds in the pits. Luck struck in the second stint when other cars suffered problems and he was able to climb back into the points, finishing seventh.

It was another difficult race for Abt. After starting seventh, the German had a good start, but a brush with a wall lost him lots of places and he concentrated on getting back into the points. He finished eighth.

Abt started the race eighth but couldn’t keep the place for very long, immediately falling back through the pack. A rough pit stop cost him even further and the German eventually crossed the line thirteenth.

Mexico was a strong weekend for Abt. The German managed to get into the Super Pole shoot out for the first time, eventually qualifying fourth. Abt was racing hard in the leading group before contact with a wall in the closing stages of the race ruined what would have been a best ever finish. He crossed the line eighth, but was promoted a place when his team mate was disqualified.

Abt took his first podium of the season in Long Beach. After setting a new lap record in the practice sessions, the German would have been disappointed with the sixth he saw in qualifying. Still, he was on perfect form during the race, making up places and finishing third.

It was another difficult qualifying for Abt and he lined up fourteenth on the grid in Paris. The German was playing the long game, showing extra energy management skills and staying out two laps longer than most of the field. A late safety car robbed him of his advantage, though, and he crossed the line tenth.

For the second time, Abt managed to get into the Super Pole shoot out and eventually qualified third. Abt gained a place during the race and, though given orders to let his team mate past and into second, the German took second in his home race, his career best Formula E finish.

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Dan qualifying

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Dan race

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Daniel Abt heads to London seventh in the championship, and will be hoping to get a few more places by the end of the two races. The team, however, are unlikely to stand for a repeat of Berlin, where Abt finished ahead of his team-mate on track. After all, Di Grassi doesn’t have a very large gap to Buemi at the lead of the championship.

If Abt can continue with the momentum from Berlin, it should be a positive weekend for him, but he wasn’t able to do that in Paris after the podium finish the race before, so there’s no guarantee. The German definitely has both the talent and the car to be up at the front of his field with his team mate, but does he have the luck?

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Image courtesy of Rajan Jangda

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