Formula E returnee Robin Frijns has revealed that he favoured points over a potential retirement at the Marrakesh E-Prix, settling for second place instead of risking his race for a maiden Formula E win.
In Marrakesh, Frijns secured a personal best finish in his Formula E career, taking second place for Envision Virgin Racing after starting the race from eighth place.
Lining up on the fourth row of the grid, the Dutchman benefitted majorly from Jean-Eric Vergne's first corner spin, jumping into fourth place from the outset.
Demonstrating strong pace behind the wheel of his customer Audi e-tron FE05 car, Frijns was able to move into the podium positions with 24 minutes + 1 lap of racing remaining, overtaking team-mate Sam Bird, who, after starting from pole position, had been overtaken by both BMW i Andretti Motorsport drivers.
Holding onto third place for only three minutes of racing, Frijns dropped to fourth after being overtaken by Jerome d'Ambrosio while this later became fifth when Season Two champion Lucas di Grassi also made an overtake on the double Blancpain GT Series champion.
Arming Attack Mode, Frijns closed in on di Grassi and passed the Brazilian racer, joining the chasing d'Ambrosio ahead in pursuit of Antonio Felix da Costa and Alexander Sims who still remained out in front.
Contact between da Costa and Sims with 10 minutes of racing remaining saw the Portuguese racer retire from the race while Sims dropped to fourth, with this incident promoting Frijns into second place – a position that the driver settled for, favouring taking 18 points over potentially retiring if an accident with d'Ambrosio should occur on the final lap of the race.
“It was an exciting race for me and for those watching at home!” said Frijns.
"The start was a bit messy as I tried to avoid everyone from [Jean-Eric] Vergne’s spinning car.
"I then found myself in P4 and having a good gap to Jerome [D’Ambrosio] behind me, whilst trying to save as much energy as possible.
"Of course, everyone knows what then happened to the two cars ahead, and then on the final lap I tried hard to push Jerome but being in this position for the first time I knew the points were more valuable than potentially not finishing the race.
"To finish on the podium is a really good way to end the day for me and the team.”
With Bird joining Frijns on the podium in third place, Envision Virgin Racing secured its maiden double podium finish in Formula E while scoring 33 points which places the team in fourth in the Teams' Championship, holding 36 points overall following Bird's pole position.
Formula E will return on January 26 for the Santiago E-Prix.
Discussion about this post