Lola Yamaha ABT is heading to the London for the final races of Season 12 and of the GEN3 era of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.
This will be the last time the series visits the unique circuit which weaves both inside and outside of the ExCeL exhibition centre, as the UK rounds are set to move to Brands Hatch for Season 13. With changes in surface, elevation and lighting, the drivers face a unique challenge at the 2.077km, 20-turn track. It starts off indoors on a specially designed surface and after a quick succession corners, heads outside onto the highly abrasive asphalt surrounding the exhibition centre. The outside features a flowing set of chicanes, followed by a quick run down to a twisting section, before heading back up into the main hall to finish the lap.
This weekend also marks Lucas di Grassi’s final races as a professional racing driver, after he made the decision to hang up his helmet earlier this season. Having been involved in Formula E since the very beginning, the series has been a key part of his career. In addition to being crowned champion in Season 3, Lucas has secured 1,109 points, 42 podiums and 14 victories, the latest of which was just a few rounds ago in Shanghai.
The double-header in London will also be the final races of Lola’s partnership with ABT. This follows the British company’s decision at the beginning of the year to bring the race team in-house for the GEN4 era, enabling it to streamline activities, increase expertise for upcoming projects and better drive innovation through motorsport.
"This weekend’s London E-Prix marks my final race as a professional driver. After 30 years of racing, it is difficult to put into words what this journey has meant to me. Motorsport has been my life since I was a kid. It gave me incredible moments, challenges, victories, defeats, lessons, friendships and memories that I will carry forever. And Formula E has a very special place in that story.
“I have been part of this championship since the very beginning. I watched it go from an idea that many thought would never work, into one of the most competitive and innovative motorsport series in the world. Along the way, Formula E became much more than a place where I raced, it became a family.
“To everyone who has been part of this journey — my teams, engineers, mechanics, partners, competitors, the people working behind the scenes, and all the friends I made along the way — thank you. And especially to the fans: thank you for following me, supporting me, challenging me and sharing this incredible ride. Now for one last time, I’m going to give everything in London, for myself, my family, everyone who has supported me and the Lola Yamaha ABT team. Most importantly, I intend to enjoy every single second.”
“We've seen a lot of challenges this season but also a lot of positives with improvements in pace and performance, scoring points in two races and making it to the duels three times. London is a tight circuit where overtaking is difficult and the changes in surface, elevation and lighting present a number of challenges. We hope to take all the developments we’ve made, maximise on the opportunities these challenges may present, and hopefully deliver more points for the team. After all the hard work they’ve put in over the past two seasons, it would be great to finish the GEN3 era on a high.”
“London will be a very special race for us. Not only is it our final home race of the season, but it is also Lucas’ final race as a professional driver. He has been instrumental in Lola’s development in our first two seasons in Formula E and his experience has been invaluable. “I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone at ABT ahead of what will be the final races of our partnership, as we bring the team in-house for GEN4. We could not have achieved our first podium and race win so quickly without them and look forward to building on this momentum next season. In the meantime, we hope we can pull everything we’ve learnt together to achieve positive results in these final races."
