Loïc Duval really thought he would win in Malaysia
During the second ePrix of the 2015 season, Loïc Duval came very close to his first victory in Formula E but had to retire at the end of the race due to a reliability issue. The native of Chartres is aware of this and reflects on his race.
The Malaysian stage was very lively for this second season of Formula E. During qualifications, Sébastien Buemi took pole position with a 0.392-second lead over Stéphane Sarrazin. Loïc Duval was then in 3rd position at 0.430 seconds. During the race, many twists disrupted the serenity of the competitors.
Leader of this ePrix around mid-race, Loïc Duval loses 3 places during his car change in the pit lane. Returning to 2nd place by the end of the ePrix, the Dragon Racing is running slow. « It’s a huge missed opportunity. After the start of the race, we had a good race pace behind Sébastien Buemi, then he had a problem so we were in the lead of the race quite easily » regretted the French driver.
He explains the mistake that initially cost him his first place on the Malaysian circuit: « During the car change, the team lost 6 seconds. They didn’t release me. I think the team didn’t get the call when I had to leave, and they lost a bit of time. They took a large safety margin, but it was a massive loss »
His troubles didn’t stop in the pits: « Afterwards, we had a problem with the left rear suspension, probably when we went over a bump. It was a shame because it was a decent race without any issues, we were in first place, and even if Seb [Buemi] hadn’t had a problem, we would have finished in 2nd place ».
Very surprised by these issues, Loïc Duval does not have any particular explanation for the incident: « There was no damage to the car, everything was fine. Everything was under control, I wasn’t pushing more because I didn’t want to take too much risk. That’s when the suspension broke. »
