Formula E: latest news and miscellaneous info from Morocco
- Daniel Abt wins challenge in Marrakesh souk
- Lucas di Grassi to debut in Race of Champions
The first E-Prix in 2019 will start on Saturday at 4 PM (CET) in Marrakesh (live on Eurosport and www.zdf.de).
A film shoot took Daniel Abt and Lucas di Grassi to Jamaâ El Fna on Thursday, the famous market place in the heart of Marrakesh. The task to be mastered by the two Audi drivers: buying a hat, a basket and shoes in the traditional souk for 500 dirhams (approx. 50 euros), but spending as little as possible on their purchases. The challenge was won by Daniel Abt, who afterwards proudly delivered his shopping to Team Principal Allan McNish.
Daniel Abt and Lucas di Grassi got to listen to traditional Moroccan music at the branch office of Audi’s partner DHL. The two Formula E stars received an enthusiastic welcome from the DHL staff, avidly signed autographs and patiently fulfilled selfie wishes.
Lucas di Grassi spent the Christmas holidays in two different worlds: a skiing vacation in Colorado (USA) was followed by the family’s first joint Christmas celebration with their son Leonardo at home in Brazil.
The weekend following Marrakesh will see Daniel Abt and Lucas di Grassi participating in two highly diverse events. Abt will compete in his Audi e-tron FE04 from the 2017/2018 season at the GP Ice Race on snow and ice in Zell am See, Austria. Di Grassi in Mexico City will make his debut in the Race of Champions of the world’s best race drivers.
On Sunday, Jamie Green and Nico Müller will drive the Audi e-tron FE05 cars of the Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler team in the Formula E rookie test in Marrakesh. Whereas this will be Müller’s third participation in an official Formula E test for the Audi factory team, Jamie Green will be catching his first whiff of Formula E air. The Briton had prepared for the test in the Audi simulator shortly before Christmas. Nyck de Vries and Benoît Tréluyer will be testing for Audi’s customer team Envision Racing.