Silverstone/Shanghai - 15 February 2023
The NIO 333 Racing Formula E Team has taken its best result in five years in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship at the Hyderabad street race in India, with Sérgio Sette Câmara finishing in fifth place at the end of a race filled with much action and drama.
The results of the team across the first four races of the season means the team is now placed a competitive eighth place in the teams’ championship, as the championship reaches its quarter of the way-point.
The team hit the ground running at the brand new 2.8km street circuit in Hyderabad, India, with Sette Câmara setting the third-fastest time in the opening free practice session on Friday.
The team turned its focus to Saturday’s qualifying and race day, but it was unable to make the most out of its great one-lap pace seen in the previous rounds, nor did many of its rivals at the tricky and dusty street circuit. Sette Câmara was also held up by traffic on one of his runs, which contributed to Sette Câmara and Dan Ticktum qualifying in 15th and 16th on the grid for the afternoon’s E-Prix.
The race turned out to be another story, and is being hailed as one of the most exciting in the championship’s history.
At the start of the race, Sette Câmara was quickly working his way up the order, saving his Attack Mode deployments to later in the race, while team-mate Ticktum’s strategy was to get his deployments out of the way early on.
On lap 13, Sette Câmara broke into the top ten, managing to stay out of trouble as a number of competitors collided at the Turn 3 hairpin.
Ticktum’s race soon came to an end, when the Briton was hit whilst going for an overtaking move against a damaged rival. The contact caused terminal damage to Ticktum’s NIO 333 ER9 and he was forced to retire on lap 16.
Sette Câmara took his two Attack Modes in the mid-part of the race, which dropped him to 12th position just before the first and only safety car came on track on lap 23.
The race restarted on lap 26, and in the final leg of the 33-lap race the Brazilian was making good progress, passing rivals on track when others took their final Attack Modes and from breached track limits penalties. The careful and precise driving of Sette Câmara saw him cross the finish line in sixth place, immediately being promoted to fifth following a penalty to a rival for a technical infringement.
Sette Câmara scored his first points with NIO 333 in the Formula E championship, and the ten points has also launched the team up to eighth place in the teams’ classification.
The race result is also the team’s best since 333 Racing joined the championship in Season 6, four years ago.
The team is aiming to build on this incredible momentum as the series travels to another all-new circuit, racing at Cape Town in South Africa in two weeks’ time.
FIA Formula E Gen3 Official Technical Information
Performance:
- Fastest Formula E car yet with a top speed over 322 kph / 200 mph.
- Most efficient formula racing car ever with more than 40% of the energy used within a race produced by regenerative braking.
- Around 95% power efficiency from an electric motor delivering up to 350kW of power (470BHP), compared to approximately 40% for an internal combustion engine.
- First-ever formula car with both front and rear powertrains. A new front powertrain adds 250kW to the 350kW at the rear, more than doubling the regenerative capability of the current Gen2 to a total of 600kW.
- Every aspect of Gen3 production has been rethought, redesigned, and rebuilt to ensure the car sets the benchmark for high-performance, sustainable racing without compromise. For example, natural materials have been introduced to tyres, batteries and bodywork construction with life cycle thinking at the core.
Sustainability:
- Gen3 batteries are among the most advanced, sustainable batteries ever made consisting of sustainably sourced minerals while battery cells will be reused and recycled at end of life.
- Linen and recycled carbon fibre will be used in bodywork construction for the first time in a formula car featuring recycled carbon fibre from retired Gen2 cars and reducing the overall amount of virgin carbon fibre used. This will reduce the carbon footprint of the production of the Gen3 bodywork more than 10%. All waste carbon fibre will be reused for new applications through adoption of an innovative process from the aviation industry.
- Natural rubber and recycled fibres will make up 26% of new Gen3 tyres and all tyres will be fully recycled after racing.
- The carbon footprint of the Gen3 has been measured from the design phase to inform all reduction measures taken to reduce environmental impact, while all unavoidable emissions will be offset as part of Formula E’s net zero carbon commitment.
- All Gen3 suppliers will operate in line with top international standards to reduce environmental impacts of manufacturing (ISO 14001) and be FIA Environmental Accreditation 3-Star rated.
ARTICLE SPONSORED by "Jordan Bespoke"
