ABT CUPRA gain ‘additional motivation’ after surprise Berlin front row lock-out

Last weekend’s Berlin E-Prix double-header was one that the ABT CUPRA Formula E Team will never forget, after the Germans saved their best performance of the season so far for their home E-Prix.

Whilst Saturday’s race at the Tempelhof Airport Circuit was typically underwhelming for the side, with Nico Müller having finished eleventh with Robin Frijns in fourteenth, Sunday was the Kempten-based team’s time to shine.

Frijns and Müller both mastered Sunday’s wet qualifying session, with the heavens having opened not long before the session got underway. The challenging conditions worked perfectly in ABT CUPRA’s favour, with Frijns having claimed a shock pole position, with Müller in second. It meant the side secured a front row lock-out and their first points of the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, with Frijns having been awarded three points for claiming pole.

Unfortunately for the team, Sunday’s race was dry, which resulted in them being unable to stay with the leaders. Frijns quickly tumbled down the order and finished seventeenth, whilst Müller managed to hold on for ninth, securing his first points of the season. All in all, it was an unbelievable weekend for ABT CUPRA; however, Team Principal Thomas Biermaier is aware that they still lack “the necessary pace in normal conditions”.

“We took a big step forward this weekend. The success in qualifying and the clean race into the top ten on Sunday are a nice reward and additional motivation for the whole team after months of hard work. Of course, the wet conditions played into our cards in qualifying and made this surprising result possible.

“In the race, however, we noticed that we don’t yet have the necessary pace in normal conditions. Nevertheless, we’re taking some positive aspects with us from Berlin for the next races.”