Season two in the FIA Formula E Championship didn’t go well for NEXTEV TCR, who had the defending champion driving for them.
From the Beijing ePrix and onwards you could sense that the team were lacking with their powertrain compared to their rivals from season one, Renault e.dams and Abt Schaeffler. Oliver Turvey’s sixth place in Beijing turned out to be their best finish of the whole season, and they only had four more points finishes afterwards.
In the Teams’ Championship they finished ninth, last out of all the teams that actually took part in an ePrix. Them and Team Aguri were on similar form, but Antonio Felix da Costa was able to get three sixth places during the season to make Team Aguri finish 13 points above NEXTEV.
Their best race came during the final London ePrix, with both drivers finishing ninth and tenth respectively. This was mainly due to a larger amount of retirements as usual, with championship rivals Lucas di Grassi and Sebastien Buemi coming together on the first lap.
The team will hopefully know where they went wrong this year and will be able to be more competitive in season three. If they stick with the same lineup, Nelson Piquet Jr being the only driver confirmed so far, then they shouldn’t have to worry about the performance of the stars in their cars.
Nelson Piquet Jr.
Championship Position: 15th
Points: 8
Best Finish: 8th
The defending Formula E champion from season one had a very unfortunate second season. The Brazilian only finished inside of the top ten twice, with his best finish of eighth the same as his worst finishing position in season one where he didn’t retire.
Going into the next season however you can not count him out, especially if the NEXTEV team become competitive again. He proved in the first season that he was up there with Sebastien Buemi and Lucas di Grassi.
Oliver Turvey
Championship Position: 14th
Points: 11
Best Finish: 6th
The British driver joined the team for the first London ePrix last year, and stayed with the team for the full amount of the 2015/16 season.
While his finishing statistics don’t show a lot, he has done very well to be around the same level as his teammate. A sixth place finish at the Beijing ePrix gave the team their best result of season two. Turvey hasn’t been confirmed for season three yet, but he deserves to be in Formula E somewhere.
