Kelvin van der Linde heads into this weekend’s inaugural Hyderabad E-Prix on the back of an impressive debut not only in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, but in single-seater racing altogether.
The South African replaced the injured Robin Frijns at the recent Diriyah double-header and certainly performed admirably, after finishing sixteenth in Race One and eighteenth in Race Two. He managed to beat his ABT CUPRA Formula E Team team-mate in both races and also managed to keep it out of the walls for good measure, further highlighting the impressive job he did.
Van der Linde is replacing Frijns once again this weekend in India, which is, of course, a brand new country for Formula E. With that in mind, this weekend offers the South African an interesting opportunity, given that the circuit is new to everyone. Given that everyone is starting from zero, this could work in ABT’s and van der Linde’s favour, something the driver seemingly recognises himself.
“I’ve never been to India before, so just traveling to this new culture is an adventure for me. After my laps in the simulator, I can say that the track is great, but it will also be a big challenge. I’ve also looked at onboard footage of other series that have raced there. There are some overtaking opportunities and so we can definitely expect a spectacular race. It’s a track that no one in the paddock knows – so we’re all arriving on a level playing field.”
“We all don’t really know what to expect” – Nico Mueller
Nico Mueller‘s returning year to Formula E certainly hasn’t gone as planned so far, with the Swiss driver having retired from both races in Diriyah. His second retirement of that weekend was as a result of crashing at Turn Eighteen, adding to his and the team’s woes.
Mueller and ABT have struggled so far in the Gen3 era, partly due to the team having joined Season Nine late; however, they’ll be looking to start making some progress soon, to avoid being left behind. Mueller will likely be hoping to use the new venue to his advantage this weekend to try and push into the top fifteen or so, with the thirty-year-old having labelled “finding a good rhythm” as an integral part to a strong weekend in India.
“This is a very cool track, especially at the chicane on the long straight, we all don’t really know what to expect. The following tight hairpin will then also be very exciting. The track is a lot of fun in the simulator, it’s all about finding a good rhythm. We’ll only see how the asphalt is and how many bumps there are when we are on site. I’m looking forward to India.”
Credit: ABT CUPRA Formula E Team