After delivering a strong debut result at the 2018 Ad Diriyah ePrix, Nissan e.dams head to the streets of Marrakesh fourth in the teams championship standings after their race drivers Sebastien Buemi and Oliver Rowland finished sixth and seventh respectively.
This will be the third trip to Morocco and the African continent for Formula E, with the all-electric racing series debut being at the 2016 Marrakesh ePrix, which was won by current Nissan racer Buemi. The upcoming event will mark the first of a series of races with Santiago, Mexico City, Hong Kong and Sanya all set to take place between now and 23 March.
Nissan are pleased with the way they are understanding the series so far and are determined to continue that positive momentum into the rest of the season, with Michael Carcamo, Nissan’s global motorsports director saying: “We have our first race under our belt, and now the Nissan e.dams team is very determined to continue to move forward and show what we can do.
“We learned a great deal at the opening round, and Nissan, e.dams and NISMO have all been working tirelessly to further develop our chassis and powertrain package.”
The 2019 Marrakesh ePrix will be the second time Nissan has showcased electric vehicle technology with the Japanese manufacturer bringing the biggest fleet of electric vehicles to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Morocco back in 2016.
And while this may be Nissan’s first race in Marrakesh, it has been a happy hunting ground for the 2015-16 Formula E Champion Buemi, where he has finished every race on the podium, with a win and a second place. Ahead of this weekend’s race, the Swiss racer said:
“Marrakesh has been a great circuit for me in the past, and I’m looking forward to heading back there with the Nissan e.dams team. Both times we’ve been there I’ve qualified on the front row and have a pole and a race win under my belt.
“That is certainly our target to repeat that this weekend. We’ve been pouring over the data from the opening round and looking at where we can improve, and I’m confident the Nissan e.dams team is moving in the right direction.”
Meanwhile, this will be Rowland’s first race in Marrakesh and ahead of the race said:
“My first race went very well – I got some decent points on the board and got to learn a lot more about the car, the team the championship.
“I think round one gives us a really strong base moving forward to Marrakesh. Hopefully, we’ll make some steps further up the field and become stronger as a team and a unit.”
After the race in Marrakesh, Nissan will also allow its two young drivers, Jann Mardenborough and Mitsunori Takaboshi the chance to have a go behind the wheel in post-race in-season rookie test.
