MOTORSPORT – YK Almoayyed and Sons, the sole distributor of Nissan vehicles in Bahrain, announced that Nissan Formula E Team completed their home Tokyo E-Prix weekend by scoring points in both races of the Formula E double-header.
British driver Oliver Rowland finished seventh on Saturday before securing fourth place on Sunday in the historic first-ever night event held in the Japanese capital.
His teammate Frenchman Norman Nato recovered strongly in the second race of the weekend to take sixth, ensuring a valuable double-points finish for the Japanese outfit.
The results leave Rowland just 14 points off the drivers’ championship lead heading into the season 12 finale in London.
Saturday’s opening race proved challenging for the Nissan Formula E Team, with both Rowland and Nato narrowly missing out on the Duels in qualifying, starting 15th and 11th respectively in hot and humid conditions.
A well-executed strategy saw Rowland save energy during the opening stages before making a late Pit Boost stop and deploying Attack Mode to climb through the field.
The Briton gained eight positions to finish seventh and score valuable championship points.
On the other side of the garage, Nato ran inside the points during the early stages before receiving a five-second time penalty following minor contact with another car, dropping him to 16th.
Following overnight work to improve both cars, the team headed into Sunday’s race without the opportunity to validate their changes, after free practice three was cancelled due to adverse weather. Despite going straight into qualifying, both Rowland and Nato progressed to the Duels and lined up eighth and sixth on a wet circuit.
As the track began to dry, Rowland showed excellent pace to climb into the podium positions.
After leading for several laps, he managed his energy through a late red flag to secure fourth.
Nissan Formula E Team managing director and team principal Tommaso Volpe expressed his pleasure in competing in Japan ‘in front of our home fans and so many Nissan colleagues and executives’.
“Saturday’s race was compromised by qualifying, although a well-executed strategy allowed Oli to gain several places and score points, while Norman was unlucky to miss out after receiving a time penalty,” Volpe said.
“It was important for us to turn things around on Sunday, especially at this stage of the championship and with it being our home event. Everyone worked extremely hard overnight and, despite not having the chance to validate our changes before qualifying, we adapted well and made the right decisions to put both cars in the points.”
“While we didn’t quite have the same edge we’ve had in Tokyo in previous years, it’s good to finish our home weekend on a positive note.
“Importantly, we head to the season finale in London with Oli still firmly in the fight for the drivers’ championship, just 14 points off the lead. We know it won’t be easy, but it’s great to still be in contention going into the final weekend, and we’ll give everything we have over the last two races.”
Nissan remain the first and only Japanese manufacturer in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, having debuted in season five in 2018-19.
The company expanded their investment by acquiring the e.dams team in April of 2022 and committed to the upcoming GEN4 era running until 2030, directly supporting their ‘Ambition 2030’ electrification targets.
This commitment culminated in winning the season 11 (2024-25) drivers’ world championship with Rowland, who is partnered by Nato for the season 12 campaign.
Nissan utilise the championship to transfer racetrack technology directly to passenger vehicles, aiding their international environmental mandate to achieve full carbon neutrality by 2050 and electrify all new vehicle offerings in key markets by the early 2030s.
The championship now heads to London for the season 12 finale from August 14 to 16, when the final double-header of the GEN3 era will decide both titles.
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