The opening round of the 2023-24 Formula E campaign only gets underway next week in Mexico City and already the season has produced its first ‘winner’ – sort of.
For many at the Valencia pre-season test last October, the simulation race on the final morning counted for very little in the grand scheme of things, save for the chance to get back on track after a garage fire truncated much of the week’s running. That is unless you were Robin Frijns, who put his name to the top of the leaderboard having overtaken Porsche’s Antonio Felix da Costa in the closing laps at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Spain.
While it meant nothing more than a bit of personal pride, it marked the first time that Frijns had finished top of a Formula E race since 2019, and there’s every reason to believe that he could add to his win tally in the all-electric championship when it matters, having moved back to the Envision team where he enjoyed his most successful spell.
“I was with the team for four years, the team has not changed much, there are some new guys coming in, some other guys left, which is normal,” Frijns told Autosport, the 32-year-old having returned to Envision after just one season with Abt Cupra.
“Obviously it feels good to be back, coming back to a team which I know is always nice to have, but I think the goal is quite clear that we all want to win. The team is pushing hard to be competitive and win races and that’s what we try to do.”
The period between 2018-22 yielded two wins and a further 10 podiums for the Frijns/Envision partnership, as well as a tilt at the drivers’ title in 2018-19 and 2020-21 with Frijns eventually finishing fourth and fifth respectively.
Somewhat ironically, given their lengthy partnership, Envision’s strongest season came last term, as the switch to the Gen3 machine and a Jaguar powertrain allowed Nick Cassidy and Sebastien Buemi to claim the teams’ title, while the former also came close to winning the drivers’ crown.
Source: Autosport