Team Aguri once again showed the pace of its cars in Long Beach, but errors cost the team as Antonio Felix da Costa was disqualified after securing pole position due to a tyre pressure discrepancy.
The orange and blue Team Aguri cars were quick out of the box, running near the front throughout the two Free Practice sessions. Da Costa secured provisional pole in a close shootout session, setting an impressive time of 0:57.1s, but was later demoted to the rear of the grid for being below the minimum tyre pressure.
Da Costa secured provisional pole in a close shootout session, setting an impressive time of 0:57.1s, but was later demoted to the rear of the grid after being 0.05 below the minimum tyre pressure. Duran struggled to get the best of the car in qualifying as he finished 15th fastest
Da Costa made great progress during the race, rising from the back to 8th place, before retiring from the race with a bent track rod. Duran finished the race in 14th place.
Da Costa was disappointed in how the weekend turned out, after all, the promise the car showed.
“The result is hard to swallow. I drove cleanly in qualifying and the race, and made a lot of ground. We were looking good for a solid points finish. I think there should be a small tolerance in the regulations on the tyre pressures. I didn’t gain any performance benefit and there is a big difference between starting 1st and 18th, but rules are rules.”
Mark Preston, Team Principal of Team Aguri, believes that the team has a race winning car, but they need to cut out the errors if they want to pick up there second victory in Formula E
“Once again we have shown that we have race-winning potential, and Antonio showed his amazing talent both in qualifying and the race.”
“While, we were disappointed with the penalty that we received. We will regroup and come back stronger for inaugural Paris ePrix”.
