Brazilian was among the fastest on the track with the new NIO333 Racing car
The Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez, in Mexico City, received this Saturday (14) the first stage of the Formula-E World Championship. The race, which marked the debut of the new cars of the third generation of the category, was marked by two accidents and practically all teams in conservative strategies in search of understanding the new cars.
In his fourth season for the Formula E World Championship the Brazilian driver Sérgio Sette Câmara officially made his debut for the Chinese team NIO333 Racing. On board of car #3, the driver, despite having completed the race only in 16th position, left the Mexican capital excited in view of the good performance presented by his car during practices.
The first free practice session took place at the end of Friday afternoon. Sette, still adapting to the new car and new tires did not have great difficulties and with the mark of 1m13s732, recorded the third fastest time of the track. Excited, the Brazilian went to the second practice session, early Saturday morning. Once again Sergio was very good, came to lead for a few moments and with the mark of 1m13s506 was again the third fastest of the track, but only one hundredth of a second of the fastest time.
Confident in a good position the young Brazilian followed for the qualifying session in the first group formed by 11 drivers. This time, hampered in his fastest lap by a latecomer, the driver of car #3 made a mistake that cost him important tenths in the fight for pole. Thus, with no time to open a new lap, Sette Câmara had to settle for the 13th position for the starting grid of the first round.
Also on Saturday (14) was the race of the e-Prix of Mexico. In a good start Sergio managed to keep in the 13th position, however, much pressured by his competitors. In the first part of the race the Brazilian remained in the fight for the 10th position. However, in the final part of the race, seeking to finish the race and accumulate as much information as possible for the team, Sette Câmara was forced to slow down, and, with that, completed the 41 laps of the race in 16th place.
“Practices were very positive and I was third in both sessions. We were confident for the standings and we adopted an aggressive strategy. I did two valid laps in which in one I had traffic, and in the other one a latecomerled me to a mistake that cost me about three tenths, which would have sufficed to be the first in my quali group. I expected a recovery race, but at the end of the race, I had a power deficit when I lost some positions. Although the final result was not good, we showed that we were competitive this weekend with my pace and also with Dan qualifying very well. We will analyze the data to understand what we can do on the driving side and the car so that we can gather everything in Diriyah, in two weeks. I’m sure if we keep this performance in the standings and improve our race pace, we can achieve great achievements this season”, analyzed the 24-year-old Brazilian.
The second and third stages of the Formula-E World Championship will be held on January 28 and 29 in Diriyah – Saudi Arabia and will be broadcasted live from the Band communication group.
Pictures: Disclosure | NIO333 Racing
Press office of Sérgio Sette Câmara
Responsible journalist: Flávio Quick