Debutant Ma Qing Hua’s first Formula E race for Team Aguri was brought to a premature end after a promising start.
The Chinese driver started the race in 1th position, impressive considering he was several seconds off the pace in the earlier free practice session with no previous experience in the car. The cold conditions and lack of a Friday shakedown made it difficult for everyone, but Ma was able to adapt to the conditions.
He started the race well making a number of overtaking moves at the back of the field, but that fell apart from the pit stop. 30 seconds longer the minimum, Ma dropped down the order staying only ahead of Piquet Jr who had his own technical problem earlier in the race.
With a handful of laps before the end of the race, Ma then crashed heavily bringing out the safety car and subsequently bringing a muted end to the race. Having been taken to the medical centre for checks, Ma was released with no injury.
“I was pleased to show such good pace in only my first Formula E race,” said Ma.
“We had a good weekend and I am looking forward to building on this promising start for the team in the coming races.”
