5 February 2021 –

And just like that, Formula E: Accelerate Round 2 is complete! Last night saw the 24 sim drivers tackle Hong Kong’s street circuit in the second race of the six-round series.

Mahindra racers Olli Pahkala and Lucas Muller finished last week in the top 12, and so completed their Qualifying laps this week in Group 2. After each of their quick laps, Olli sat in 7th and Lucas in 11th, but after all 24 racers completed their qualifying attempts, they lined up in P9 and P18.

The race started cleanly up front, but unfortunately Lucas, for a second consecutive week, was struck by another car, sending him back into 21st position early on. Olli also lost a couple of places in a hectic first lap, but after using his Attack Mode and passing Von de Heyde, he was soon up to P9 again.

Five or so minutes later, Lucas had fought his way up to P18 and showed great resilience in his driving. With 10 minutes left on the clock, the young German used his first Attack Mode power boost and utilised the extra energy to gain 17th place.
Meanwhile, Olli continued to drive valiantly in the top 10 ,and after a fantastic battle with BMW i Andretti Motorsport’s Brljak, he progressed into 8th spot.

At the chequered flag Olli Pahkala and Lucas Muller finished P8 and P17 respectively, although a 5 second penalty for first lap dramas was immediately added to Lucas’ time and he dropped back in the order. A short while after the race’s conclusion, Olli was also handed a 5 second penalty.

In the race that saw Erhan Jajovski secure yet another victory, our final result was P9 for Olli and P18 for Lucas.

Olli said: “The race was okay and the pace good. I am very pleased to have finished in the points for Mahindra Racing.”

Lucas added: “The race unfortunately went from bad to worse. After making some mistakes in qualifying, I was then hit once again in the race and suffered some damage. However, I know how to fix the errors I made in quali and I am very pleased that I was one of only two drivers during the race setting lap times under one minute. I will try to build some positive momentum out of it. Congrats to Olli for securing some solid points for the team; next race we are going to rock it together!”

Catch the guys in action again next Thursday, 11 February, as they tackle the Berlin track for Round 3.