Nissan Formula E Season 9 Concludes with Electric Thrill at the Diriyah E-Prix

Fenestraz in the top-10 as Nato also shows good pace

Once again, the Formula E has illuminated the Riyadh street circuit with season 9 taking place under the lights in the historic town of Diriyah, leading the way towards a sustainable future in racing. With 85 years of motorsport history and EV expertise, Nissan’s participation in the 2023 Diriyah E-Prix - ABB FIA Formula E World Championship with the highly anticipated Gen3 race car is in line with the company’s Ambition 2030 plan to become a truly sustainable company, bringing the excitement and fun of zero-emission electric vehicles to a global audience.

The all-electric racing event was attended by Nissan executives including Guillaume Cartier, Chairperson at Nissan AMIEO, as well as Friederike Kienitz, Senior Vice President of Sustainability, Corporate Affairs & Governance for Nissan AMIEO and his excellency Sheikh Amr Al-Dabbagh, Chairman of Petromin Corporation. 

Building on Nissan’s long-term involvement in Formula E and its commitment to the Gen 3 era, Petromin Nissan, Nissan’s authorized dealer in Saudi Arabia, signed a 3-year agreement to be the team’s official innovation partner for the event, further strengthening its relationship with the Japanese automaker for the many years to come. Additionally, by displaying the Nissan Ariya at the E-village, the company’s first 100% electric crossover, Petromin Nissan also demonstrated Nissan’s road-to-track and track-to-road knowledge exchange, creating excitement on and off the track. 

Commenting on this occasion, Adib Takieddine, Managing director at Nissan Saudi Arabia, said: “Nissan's participation in the Formula E underlines its ongoing commitment to sustainable mobility, and with our partner in success, Petromin Nissan, being the team’s official Innovation Partner for the event, we reiterate our shared mission of delivering innovation as well as the best-in-class customer experience.” 

The Nissan Formula E Team intrigued the crowd and proved to be a formidable driving duo, secured their first points of the season in Round 3 of the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, with Sacha Fenestraz taking eighth.The pair complemented one another and the team's existing strengths. On the racetrack, both performed admirably well with the new Nissan Gen3 livery car.

After a difficult Friday, the Franco-Argentine driver, Sacha Fenestraz, qualified 12th for the second race of the event and displayed excellent speed to move through the field and score his maiden points for the team.

Meanwhile, in the first race of the double-header under the lights, Frenchman Norman Nato also showed his potential, moving up four positions to finish just outside the points in 12th. He repeated the performance on Saturday, again improving by four places.

“We’ve got mixed feelings from this double-header,” said Tommaso Volpe, managing director, Nissan Formula E Team. “We came to Diriyah with some new processes, which worked really well, and we’re making progress at every race. Qualifying was a bit frustrating this weekend, we made a few mistakes but the race pace was really good for both drivers and they were able to move forwards. We’re delighted for Sacha and his first points finish today - it was a great race from him, but we know that we can achieve more. We had a good strategy and we felt strong as a team, and these are good signs for the rest of the season. It’s a long championship, though, so now we have to focus on the small details and continue making progress.

“We were also really happy to see our customer team McLaren take their first pole and podium in the sport, proving the pace of the Nissan e-4ORCE 04. Congratulations to them, and we’ll continue to work hard ahead of India in two weeks’ time. There’s still a lot of work to do to reach our full potential, but we are on the right path.”