Closed Circuit: TECHEETAH in Hong Kong

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Techeetah will have a lot of positives to take from the first Formula E race after joining the series at the start of the season but, unfortunately, none of those positives will be points. Neither driver finished the Hong Kong ePrix, with Ma Qing Hua retiring after the opening lap chaos.

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With the Renault power train in their cars, a lot was expected of Techeetah, despite the team never having stepped onto a Formula E track before. After strong performances in the free practice sessions, including a sheet topping time from Jean-Eric Vergne in FP2, it looked like those expectations might be met, but red flags in qualifying ruined both drivers laps.

Things only got worse during the race. Ma was caught up in the opening lap crunch, squeezed between two ABT cars which caused damage to both ends of his Techeetah machine, and he was forced to retire.

Vergne lasted a little longer, but technical problems ultimately brought an end to the Frenchman’s race. He was forced to pit early and no amount of clever energy management was going to give him enough battery life to finish the race. Vergne pitted after lap thirty one.

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It’s clear to all that Vergne is much happier in the new Techeetah team than he was last year, but that hasn’t quite transformed into points, yet. The Frenchman had strong free practice sessions, but his qualifying was hindered by a red flag on track. Though he was able to go out again for another chance at qualifying, he could only manage a ninth.

An easy race would have given Vergne a strong chance at points, but it wasn’t to be. Though he only lost a single place on the opening lap, the chaos gave the chance to move forwards rather than backwards. The first opportunity lost for Vergne. He made the place back, though, and was running in eighth for the opening laps when technical problems saw him drop through the field.

Vergne pitted early, too early to make the end of the race. Still, he did a good job of climbing up through the field in his second car, trying to set the fastest lap in order to take something from the opening race. He couldn’t and, on lap 32, Vergne pitted from thirteenth and ended his race.

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Best time in FP1: 1:03.464.

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Best time in FP2: 1:02.350.

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Best time in qualifying: 1:03.750.

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Best time in the race: 1:03.078.

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[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“Positives to take from this weekend: first race for the team, fast car, a lot of support, and hungrier than ever for good results! Still many races ahead, so all good.”[/perfectpullquote]

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Ma may not have had the success of his team mate in the practice sessions, but he was still on course for a decent qualifying when, in a separate group from Vergne, a red flag ruined his qualifying too. The Chinese driver would eventually qualify seventeenth, but started sixteenth due to another driver’s penalty.

That put him right in the way of the out of place drivers behind him, who were looking to quickly make up places at the start of the race. Ma got caught up in the opening lap scrum, squeezed between the two ABT drivers as the entire field jostled for position. The damage to both ends of his car meant he was forced to pit after the opening lap.

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Best time in FP1: 1:04.718.

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Best time in FP2: 1:03.159.

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Best time in qualifying: 1:04.740.

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Image courtesy of FIA Formula E Media

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