James Barclay believes that Jaguar's I-TYPE 3 car will suit the circuit layout for this weekend's Sanya E-Prix although the Managing Director of the squad has highlighted qualifying as a major area for improvement for the British marque.
After five races this season, Jaguar Racing occupy seventh in the Teams' Standings, with the outfit's potential of strong race results being directly impacted upon by poor qualifying performances.
In Hong Kong, both Mitch Evans and Nelson Piquet Jr started towards the rear of the field as a result of a lack of pace in qualifying.
While Piquet failed to see the chequered flag after crashing on lap 1, Evans successfully displayed the I-TYPE 3's pace, fighting from 17th on the grid to take seventh at the line to continue his current run of points-scoring finishes.
"Qualifying is the key component of our race weekend that we are looking to improve on," said Barclay. "We know the Jaguar I-TYPE 3 has competitive race pace.
"We need to start further up the grid to maximise our potential. If we can do this both drivers stand a chance of delivering the results that we know we are capable of."
Spanning 2.236km in length, the Sanya Street Circuit features 11 corners and has a wider racing surface, reducing the chances of Full Course Yellows, safety cars and red flag periods that Formula E has seen in recent races while two long straits will increase energy consumption.
With the I-TYPE 3 having high energy efficiency and evident pace in race conditions, the predicted less disruptive nature of the E-Prix in Sanya could benefit Jaguar, with longer periods of green flag running increasing the importance of battery management in what could become one of Formula E's more strategy-driven races.
"Sanya will host its first Formula E race and the circuit looks set to be a fast one, which will suit the team, so we are all excited to get back on the track and put the lessons learnt from the previous races into practice," continued Barclay.
"We can rely on fantastic support from the Chinese fans and the Jaguar China family."
The Sanya E-Prix will take place on March 23 and marks the sixth race of Formula E's present Season Five campaign, with five different drivers from five different teams so far standing on the top step of the podium.
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