New York. Season 4 of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship ended
with two races in New York City (USA). The MSAD Andretti
Formula E Team narrowly missed out on points in the finale at the
Qatar Airways New York City E-Prix. Stéphane Sarrazin (FRA) finished
Sunday’s race in twelfth place having finished in the same position
on Saturday. BMW works driver António Félix da Costa (POR) crossed
the finish line in eleventh and 15th. On Sunday, after a
strong pursuit had moved him up into the points, a penalty awarded
for causing a collision saw him pushed down the field.
In Season 5, which gets underway in Saudi Arabia on 15th December
2018, BMW and Formula E will enter a new era together. With the
introduction of the new more powerful and efficient Gen2 car, BMW will
enter the race series as a works team.
Reactions to the New York City E-Prix.
Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director):
“Looking ahead to Season 5, a new era dawns for BMW and Formula E
after the end of this season. Our preparations for entering the race
series as a works team with the new Gen2 car are still in full swing.
I am really looking forward to seeing our car in test drives in the
coming months, and at its maiden race in December. As ‘Official
Vehicle Partner’, BMW has partnered with Formula E since its
inception, and has always believed in the success of the race series.
Now we are taking the next step together.”
António Félix da Costa (#28 Andretti
ATEC-003):
“Firstly, I would like to apologise to Luca
Filippi. The accident in today’s race was my fault. I took my foot off
the accelerator very early to save energy and didn’t bank on his
attack. Looking back at the season, I have to say that we have learned
a lot. From the BMW Motorsport perspective, that was definitely the
main goal in preparation for the works entry for Season 5. We had a
few races in which we were fast and could have finished much further
up the field, but overall, we didn’t have the full package for
bringing home the results that, as a racing driver, I would like to
have achieved.”
Stéphane Sarrazin (#27 Andretti ATEC-003):
“The
races were long this weekend. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite enough
for points. On the wet track on Sunday we saw that we are fast but our
energy management isn’t efficient enough to keep up with the best for
the whole race distance.”
The BMW i Fleet
BMW i was once again “Official Vehicle Partner” of the ABB FIA
Formula E Championship in Season 4. Spearheading the BMW i fleet was
the new BMW i8 Coupé, modified with BMW M components (combined fuel
consumption: 1.9 l/100 km; combined energy consumption 14.0 kWh/100
km; combined CO2 emissions: 42 g/km)*. As well as the BMW i8 Coupé,
the BMW i fleet for the ABB Formula E Championship also included the
new BMW i3s (combined fuel consumption: 0.0 l/100 km; combined energy
consumption: 14.3 kWh; combined CO2 emissions: 0 g/km)* as “Medical
Car” and “Race Director Car”, and the BMW X5 xDrive40e (combined fuel
consumption: 3.4 – 3.3 l/100 km; combined energy consumption: 15.4 to
15.3 kWh/100 km; combined CO2 emissions: 78 – 77 g/km)* in its role as
“Rescue Car”.