Panasonic Jaguar Racing Team head to the 2020 Santiago ePrix aiming for more points in the 2019-20 ABB FIA Formula E Championship campaign.
The British manufacturer scored points with both drivers of Mitch Evans and James Calado at the season-opener in Ad Diriyah, and are desperate to continue that consistent form with more points around the Parque O’Higgins Circuit in the heart of the Chillean capital.
Team Director of Panasonic Jaguar Racing, James Barclay said: “The first race weekend of the season demonstrated that we have a competitive package for this season. The hard-work and innovations that have gone into the Jaguar I-TYPE 4, have created a competitive racecar which we think is capable of putting us in the points and on the podium this season.
“We achieved the fastest lap in round one – a great accolade for Mitch and the team behind the scenes. There were mistakes made in Diriyah along with penalty points that didn’t allow us to capitalise and make more of our pace, but as always, we will learn from them and are ready to take on round three and convert our pace into more points.”
Despite being his maiden weekend in Formula E, it was Calado who achieved heads the Jaguar pair in the points table after claiming six points in Ad Diriyah. The former Ferrari GT driver put in a good showing and is eleventh in the championship after the first race of the season.
Ahead of round three in Santiago, the Brit said: “My first race weekend was a huge learning curve and having had a few weeks to work with my engineers, I feel fully prepared for Santiago. I’m excited to get back out on track and improve on my qualifying performance. Street circuits and electric racing is still a new challenge for me, but something I am confident I can crack very soon. Having finished seventh in round two, I’m now focused on improving and looking for more points again in round three for the team.”
Formula E veteran Evans was disappointed after his showing in Ad Diriyah. But only sixteenth in the championship, the New Zealander will have an opportunity to bounce back by virtue of the way the qualifying groups are allocated in Formula E.
Speaking ahead of the race weekend, Evans said: “Having had Christmas and the New Year at home in New Zealand with my family to digest the first two rounds of the season, I’m ready to return to Santiago and build on my championship points. There were learnings from Saudi Arabia which we have understood and learnt from as a team. Once again it has demonstrated just how vital qualifying is and I’m keen to celebrate the start of 2020 with a great qualifying position and race result in Santiago.”
He enjoyed a strong points finish here last year with a sixth place finish and is hopeful to do even better this season.
Round three of the championship will take place on 18 January at 16000 local time under the Santiago sun, with temperatures expected to reach 34C by the time the race starts on Saturday afternoon in the electric series’ hottest event of the season.
