New York race report R11
16 July 2022: Brooklyn’s Red Hook district played host to Round 11 of the 2022 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship today, the first race of the double header New York City E-Prix weekend. Hot and humid conditions, a dusty technical track and sudden rain all played their part over the course of an ultimately frustrating day for the NIO 333 Formula E Team when drivers Oliver Turvey (#3 NIO 333 001) and Dan Ticktum (#33 NIO 333 001) took the chequered flag at the end of the Red Flagged race in provisional sixteenth and seventeenth respectively.
The weekend started with solid performances from both drivers in the Free Practice sessions. A technical issue for Oliver at the start of his qualifying runs, coupled with a sudden, short bout of rain, meant that his track time was limited, and he was unable to set a quick lap time this morning. Dan, also qualifying in Group B today, took to the track just ahead of the rain shower, however, the change in conditions brought with it unpredictable results for the group and he qualified in P18 for the start of Round 11 this afternoon.
The weather once again played an integral role when heavy rain began to fall with 10 minutes of the 45 minutes plus 1 lap race remaining. With multiple incidents then ensuing around the track due to aquaplaning, a full course yellow was quickly replaced by a Red Flag. With both NIO 333 Formula E cars now sitting undamaged in the pit lane, the race was declared concluded after 29 laps (35.04.095 mins).
The team will now look at all the data collected from the event so far and discuss feedback from the drivers ahead of Round 12 of the championship which continues on the streets around the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in Red Hook tomorrow.
Oliver Turvey, #3 NIO 333 FE 001
Free Practice 1: P17
Free Practice 2: P19
Qualifying Group B – Race Grid Position: P21 (after penalties applied)
Round 11 Race Result: P16
“It was a frustrating day. We had reasonable pace in practice but an issue at the start of qualifying prevented us going out at the beginning of the session when the track was dry. When we got out it had started raining which was unfortunate and put us at the back of the grid. After saving at the start, I had reasonable pace in the race and was able to catch and overtake Dan. I was catching the cars ahead so it was unfortunate the rain stopped the race as maybe we could have progressed further.”
Dan Ticktum, #33 NIO 333 FE 001
Free Practice 1: P16
Free Practice 2: P20
Qualifying Group B – Race Grid Position: P18
Round 11 Race Result: P17
“”It was not the best first day; I feel we just need to find a bit more pace over one lap compared to some other places. Having said that, we could have been in the qualifying Duels today. We were on track early, but we didn’t quite capitalise on that, which is a bit of a shame. The race was pretty uneventful until the rain. We were struggling a little bit for pace overall and I think I picked up some damage at the start as well, so all a bit difficult really. Hopefully tomorrow will run more smoothly.””
Alex Hui, Team Principal, NIO 333 Formula E Team
“The changeable conditions of Qualifying Group B presented us with the opportunity to be in the Duels with Dan but unfortunately we didn’t capitalise on the advantageous track position we had when the rain came. The weather again played a major part in the race with a large number of the field taking themselves out of contention. Thankfully everybody walked away and, whilst we were looking at points finishes with both cars, regrettably the race was not resumed.”
