RETROSPECTIVE POINTS AWARD FOR HWA RACELAB AT THE MONACO E-PRIX

Both HWA RACELAB cars finish a tough race in Monaco, with plenty of attacks and on-track contacts. Stoffel Vandoorne is involved in the battle for points throughout the race, just missing out as he finishes in eleventh place. However, two drivers who finish ahead of him are penalised after the race, moving Vandoorne up to ninth. Gary Paffett places twelfth at the ninth race of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship.

  • 9th place for Stoffel Vandoorne, 12th place for Gary Paffett
  • Gary Paffett: "It was a case of staying clear of trouble."
  • Stoffel Vandoorne: "There is not a single spot on my car that was not hit."
  • Ulrich Fritz: "Happy we finished the race without any crashes."

Monaco, 11th May 2019 – With cloudy skies over the Monaco harbour, the morning went smoothly for HWA RACELAB in the glamorous principality. Both drivers were fully focussed in the practice sessions, as they completed their laps of the 1.76-kilometre circuit. The only thing missing was a little pace.

Stoffel produced a flawless performance in qualifying, earning himself a good starting position in tenth place on the grid. Gary made slight contact with the barrier on his flying lap and was originally 20th after qualifying. However, several drivers were subsequently awarded grid penalties, meaning the British driver started the race from 17th.

A good start saw Stoffel immediately climb one place into ninth. He confidently defended this position until things became rather eventful towards the middle of the race. The former Formula 1 driver first had to let two rivals pass him after a failed overtaking manoeuvre. However, Stoffel hit straight back with a skilful manoeuvre in the harbour hairpin to regain his spot in the top ten.

With the aid of the Fanboost, Stoffel was initially able to defend his ninth place, before Robin Frijns and Mitch Evans eventually found a way past him. The action went back and forth in the final few laps: Stoffel benefitted from a collision involving two drivers ahead of him and moved back into ninth place. However, he then dropped back out of the points on the penultimate lap.

Stoffel climbed from 12th into eleventh place with an attack in the closing metres. 

Gary Paffett stayed clear of trouble towards the back of the field. The DTM champion also completed the full race distance with the Venturi VFE05 and eventually came home 14th.

A few hours after the cars cross the finish line, race control issues a new official final result. Penalties for two competitors mean that both HWA RACELAB drivers are moved up by two places: Stoffel to P9, Gary to P12. This is Stoffel's third points finish of the season, after pole position in Hong Kong and third place in Rome. 

Quotes on the race  

Stoffel Vandoorne (27, Belgium, car number 5), 9th place
"It was a very tough race - really a battle out there. I don't think there is a single spot on my car that was not hit. I was simply unlucky in a few situations, in which I lost positions. We did not actually drive a bad race. We did a good job and did not try anything crazy."

Gary Paffett (38, England, car number 17), 12th place
"A tough race from 17th on the grid. It is really difficult to overtake here, even harder than at the other Formula E circuits. It was ultimately a case of staying clear of trouble and making up a few positions in the process. I did that in the end, in 12th place. Unfortunately, it was not enough to finish in the points this time, but I only have myself to blame for that, as my qualifying was not good enough."

Ulrich Fritz, Team Principal HWA RACELAB
"Firstly, we are happy to have finished the race with both cars without any crashes. The pace is there and the reliability of the cars is improving all the time. Overtaking is really tough at this circuit. Time and time again there was contact with other drivers, which made it difficult for Stoffel and Gary. Congratulations to Felipe and Venturi on the podium at their home race. We are now looking forward to Berlin."

 

Preview
The next round of the 2018/19 ABB FIA Formula E Championship is the BMW i Berlin E-Prix Presented by CBMM Niobium on 25th May.

 

About HWA AG
HWA AG is an independent, 360° engineering specialist in the fields of automobile racing and high-performance cars. Formed in 1998 by Hans Werner Aufrecht, the company is based in Affalterbach (Germany) and employs roughly 300 highly-qualified members of staff. HWA AG offers all its products and services under the motto ENGINEERING SPEED: The company’s objective is to develop the best possible, high-quality solutions, in order to get its partners and customers to their destination quicker. The portfolio of services ranges from designing all vehicle components to assembling complete cars, together with the relevant logistics, after-sales and support services.

About HWA RACELAB
HWA RACELAB is HWA AG’s operations team in motorsport. It brings together experienced specialists in high-quality race engineering and the associated services, in pursuit of success on the motorsport scene. HWA RACELAB will enter Formula E as a new team in the 2018/19 season, adding a future-oriented string to HWA’s wealth of racetrack expertise. Furthermore, HWA RACELAB will race in the new, international FIA Formula 3 championship in 2019. With eleven Drivers’ titles and over 180 race wins as a works team for Mercedes-AMG in the DTM, the company is one of the most successful players in international motorsport. HWA RACELAB also draws on the company’s other core areas of expertise, such as the development, assembly and running of GT cars for customer racing, as well as the assembly of Formula 3 race engines.

 

Oliver Kapffenstein
Motorsport Communications, Formula E

tel:            +49 (0) 711 17 57 00 4
mob:         +49 (0) 160 8 67 47 97
email:       o.kapffenstein@hwaag-partner.com

Marlene Wieland
Motorsport Communications, Formula E

tel:            +49 (0) 711 17 51 80 3
mob:         +49 (0) 160 8 62 80 80
email:       m.wieland@hwaag-partner.com

  

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