Oliver Rowland finished second in the Sanya E-Prix in China to secure his first podium in Formula E.
Rowland put previous race disappointments behind him as he started from pole and led the first 18 laps of the race en route to his and Nissan’s first podium finish in the all electric championship.
A rookie in the 12 round, electric street racing series, the 26 year-old Yorkshireman speedster had been a non-finisher in the previous three races but gained huge confidence from the previous race in Hong Kong where he led the race but was unfortunately hit from behind by fellow Brit Sam Bird and had to retire.
This time out his hard work paid off as the Nissan e.dams team recorded its best points finish of the season with Rowland’s teammate Sebastien Buemi storming from the rear of the grid to cross the line in sixth and score some vital points.
The points from second place, combined with his 3 points for pole position, moves Rowland up the championship table to 12th place with 7 races remaining.
Speaking after the race in China, Rowland said:
“It was a good race. I got a good start and led the race for a long time from pole. I was struggling for some pace in parts of the race, and I decided to save a little bit of energy, but ‘Jev’ (Jean-Eric Vergne) surprised me a little bit. After the red flag, I was very strong, but I had to take the points today. It was great to take my first podium and come home with 21 points.
"I missed the podium in Mexico, maybe missed the win in Hong Kong and finally today I scored the podium. Had I scored those other results I might have taken a bit more of a risk to get the win today.
“I’m very happy, and everyone on the team and Nissan deserve it.”
Oliver will be looking to go one better at the Rome E-Prix on the 13 April.