Advertising banner costs René Rast chance of a podium
- Whirled-up advertising banner gets caught in the German’s Audi e-tron FE07
- Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler scores again with both cars at Valencia
- René Rast and Lucas di Grassi with comeback drives in Sunday’s race
An advertising banner cost René Rast from the Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler team the chance of a podium result in the sixth round of the Formula E World Championship at Valencia (Spain).
The three-time DTM champion showed an impressive recovery, moving up from 14th place on the grid to third place. “The podium would definitely have been possible today,” said the German after the thrilling race. “But then, André Lotterer kicked up an advertising banner directly in front of me, which got stuck on my car. From that moment on, I had no more pace. That was extremely unlucky.”
Rast lost three positions in the closing stages, but scored important championship points in sixth place. The German improved to sixth in the drivers’ standings of the world championship, only 18 points behind the leader before the next round in Monaco on May 8.
Lucas di Grassi had to settle for 22nd on the grid after he made a mistake in qualifying. The Brazilian moved forward twelve places in the race and crossed the finish line in tenth, thus also underlining the performance of the Audi e-tron FE07.
“René and Lucas both drove strong races,” said Team Principal Allan McNish. “Today, we again saw that our package is strong after another good recovery drive with both of our cars finishing in the points.”
The customer team Envision Virgin Racing finished without points on Sunday. Nick Cassidy and Robin Frijns completed the race in 13th and 19th respectively.