DS Virgin Racing's Sam Bird is aiming to keep his current hopes of taking a maiden Formula E Championship alive this weekend as the all-electric single seater series heads to Italy for the inaugural Rome ePrix.
After six rounds this season, Bird lies in third in the Drivers' Championship while the DS Virgin squad also occupy third in the Teams' Championship through a collective effort between Bird and team-mate Alex Lynn.
In season four, Bird started his campaign strongly by taking the win at the first race of the Hong Kong ePrix while the Briton also scored further podiums in Marrakesh and Punta del Este.
“I’m really looking forward to the race in Rome," said Bird.
"It’s such an iconic and historic city, and a country with amazing motorsport heritage.
"It’s been a strong first half to the season for us with a win and two podiums already, and I’m eager to continue this heading into Rome, and to keep the pressure on for the titles.”
While Bird has scored 76 points this season, his rookie team-mate Alex Lynn has scored 17 points which leaves him in 12th place in the standings, finishing inside the top ten in every round so far except Mexico City and claiming his best finish to date (sixth) in Punta.
“It was great to get my best result so far last time out," said Lynn.
"We also qualified in the top two which shows the pace we have, so I’m really looking forward to carrying that momentum into Rome and beyond.
"The track looks challenging and of course will be new to all drivers, but we’ve been preparing hard and we’re raring to go.”
Looking ahead to the Rome ePrix, DS Virgin Racing team principal Alex Thai also commented: “It’s a credit to Formula E for the series to be yet again racing in another new city, and one as spectacular as Rome.
"As we enter the second half of the season, the competition really starts to get tough, but we’re currently in third place in both the drivers’ and the teams’ championship and we didn’t get there by luck!
"We have two fantastic, talented and consistent drivers – as the statistics show – combined with a standout engineering team and of course a quick car, so we’re looking forward to bringing our strong performance to Rome and the upcoming European races.”
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