Marrakesh race report s8
2 July, 2022: The Circuit International Automobile Moulay El Hassan in the ‘red city’ of Marrakesh played host to Round 10 of the 2022 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship today. Under intense heat and dry desert conditions, the NIO 333 Formula E Team made a positive start to the weekend, but misfortune once against denied the team the race results it had anticipated achieving in Morocco.
Both NIO 333 British drivers Oliver Turvey and rookie team-mate Dan Ticktum put in encouraging performances in the Free Practice sessions and brought home both NIO 333 001 challengers in P14 and P16 respectively at the end of best Qualifying session for the team so far in Season 8.
However, despite the team optimising car performance and energy management throughout the African event, early contact and a puncture for Dan in the race meant that the NIO 333 Formula E Team were unable to capitalise on its strategy for the #33 car, and a struggle for pace in the #3 meant that Oliver was unable to improve on grid position and took the chequered flag in P17.
The team will look back on the 2022 Marrakesh E-Prix as a valuable lesson and dive into the data collected to prepare for Rounds 11 and 12 of the championship on the streets of Brooklyn, New York City, on 16th and 17th July.
Oliver Turvey, #3 NIO 333 FE 001
Free Practice 1: P11
Free Practice 2: P4
Qualifying Group B – Race Grid Position: P14
Round 10 Race Result: P17
“Race day started well with P4 in second practice. We struggled with an issue to translate our pace in qualifying so started 14th. I fought hard at the beginning of the race to keep our position and overtook a few cars. After that we struggled for race pace, so we need to understand that for other hot races. It was a shame after a promising start to the weekend with good pace in both practice sessions to come away empty handed, but hopefully we can learn as a team and improve for the next race in New York.”
Dan Ticktum, #33 NIO 333 FE 001
Free Practice 1: P12
Free Practice 2: P14
Qualifying Group B – Race Grid Position: P16
Round 10 Race Result: Not Classified
“It was a bit of a shame today. The car seems to be difficult to push essentially. I feel like in practice where we are under the limit the car works well, but as soon as we try to extract that last little bit it becomes inconsistent, so we really need to work on this. In the race I got a puncture on lap three and that was it. I tried to go back out and we hoped for a safety car that never came, so unfortunately it was not meant to be. New York is around the corner, and it’s another new city for me, so I am looking forward to it.”
Alex Hui, Team Principal, NIO 333 Formula E Team
“Overall, it was a rather disappointing day. We were competitive in free practice, but didn’t find the pace in qualifying and the race. Early contact in the race hindered the team’s strategy from the start, and we had problems with batteries overheating. There is still a lot of room for improvement in our software control, so we have a few things to work on ahead of New York.
Now that the Gen3 car has been built, the team’s focus will be on making us more competitive next year. For the next two events we will try to achieve the best possible result with the limited resources we have now.”
The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship heads across the North Atlantic Ocean to the United States of America for the New York City E-Prix double header event on 16th and 17th July 2022.
