With the assistance of Spanish automaker CUPRA, ABT Sportsline have returned to the ABB FIA Method E World Championship, with one among their drivers believing they’ve a “level to show”, with ABT having gone for a duo they know extremely effectively.
For Season 9 of the all-electric sequence and the beginning of Gen3, the ABT CUPRA Method E Staff have signed their previous DTM line-up of Robin Frijns and Nico Mueller, marking considerably of a reunion.
For Mueller, it’s not solely a reunion with ABT however a reunion with Method E, after competing within the championship for the whole thing of Season Six and the primary half of Season Seven. Within the COVID-19 affected Season Six, the Swiss driver raced for GEOX Dragon, while in Season Seven he competed for Dragon/Penske Autosport. His greatest outcome within the sequence to-date is a second place end on the Season Seven Valencia E-Prix, proving he is aware of what it takes to carry out within the championship.
Mueller is happy to be again within the championship after taking a “brief break” in 2022, and believes that Season 9 is the “proper time for a comeback”. Waiting for the season, Mueller is anticipating his crew to be the “underdog”, with the facet ready to “play that position to the utmost extent potential”.
“Clearly, ABT is again as a crew and I’m additionally again after a brief break as a driver,” Mueller instructed fiaformulae.com.
“To come back again as a gaggle, along with Robin, is thrilling and really motivating because the crew has such a profitable historical past within the championship.
“I nonetheless really feel like I’ve received a degree to show and it’s the appropriate time for a comeback with Gen3 beginning out in Season 9 and we’ve picked the perfect timing to return. Speaking about targets now could be troublesome. It’s very onerous to place a perspective on issues and gauge the place we’re at in comparison with everyone else – everyone seems to be ranging from clean sheet of paper.
“Valencia was the primary time we received collectively on observe and we received to see all the opposite groups and drivers sharing a circuit. We had been capable of get a little bit of a really feel for our efficiency and what it would seem like. We now have to be real looking, although and there are some very sturdy, very large groups we’re going up in opposition to.
“We’ll be type of an underdog however I feel if there’s a smaller, leaner crew that may put stress on the most important operations, then it’s us. We’re going to try to play that position to the utmost extent potential and hopefully make it successful.”
On the opposite facet of the ABT CUPRA storage for Season 9, Frijns has made the change from Envision Racing to associate up together with his former DTM crew and team-mate, a relationship which may gain advantage the outfit’s growth in 2023.
After spending 4 years racing for Envision, Frijns is happy to be returning to a facet he’s “liked from day one”, with the crew being “like an enormous household”.
While there may be a household really feel within the crew, they do have some points to kind with their Gen3 challenger waiting for the season opener in Mexico Metropolis. Pre-season testing noticed the crew uncover that they “may battle” firstly of the brand new season, with the purpose being to “be extra sorted” with their package deal by the halfway level of the 12 months.
“I’ve identified ABT for fairly a while,” Frijns instructed fiaformulae.com.
“I drove with them in DTM along with Nico (Mueller), so I’m completely satisfied to be again with the crew – it’s one I’ve liked from day one,” says the 31-year-old. “It’s like an enormous household and I’m completely satisfied to be a part of it.
“The automobile remains to be fairly new, so we have now these little ‘ailments’ which we have to try to resolve. So, I feel at first of the season you’ll see folks working with and attempting to unravel and enhance their points. Those which have their automobile so as would be the crew to beat. We’d battle a bit at first we’d battle a bit given the problems we’re having in the mean time [as of testing in Valencia]. However, I feel half method by the season we shall be extra sorted and hopefully we will rating some good factors.”
