Blomqvist scores top ten qualifying result in Puebla

PUEBLA E-PRIX - HIGHLIGHTS & FACTS

• Tom Blomqvist and the NIO 333 FE Team competed in the first-ever Puebla E-Prix
• The double-header began on Saturday with Tom impressing early in Free Practice
• Unfortunately, a spin in Qualifying left the Brit starting from the back of the pack for the first race
• Starting from P22, Tom avoided the first-lap dramas as the safety car was deployed
• A clean drive to the chequered flag saw Tom cross the line in P13, gaining nine places on his starting position
• Returning on Sunday, an excellent qualifying performance from Tom rewarded him with P9 on the grid for race two
• Multiple contact on the opening lap left him with damage to the car and forced him to pit for repairs
• Unfortunately, a suspension failure as a result of the contact then led to his retirement late in the race

TOM'S WEEKEND REVIEW

“Saturday was a mixed day, I would say. Ultimately, in the race we did the best we could and risked a bit of a brave strategy. There was potential to be mid-pack in qualifying, but I pushed a bit too hard in one of the corners. The team has been working super hard and made progress in some areas, so we need to keep chipping away as we are still missing a little bit of pace.

“There are some positives to take away from Sunday. I think we made a step forward in terms of performance from yesterday, but we knew that the race was going to be a challenge for us and it was a complete mess from the start. I had a lot of contact in the first couple of laps and sustained a lot of damage, so I was driving with a bit of a wounded car. Unfortunately, I was dropping back because of that, I didn’t really have any pace, so we decided to come in to change some damaged parts – the front nose cone for example. We went back out to try and get a few more laps in, but then unfortunately we had a failure on the front corner which forced me to stop. It was a disappointing race, but there are some positives to take away as we made steps forward in some areas. We just need to keep cracking on, put the race behind us and move on to New York.”