Sam Bird (GBR) beats the heat with the Hankook iON Race to win the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship race in the Brazilian megacity of São Paulo. Despite an ambient temperature of 35 degrees, rising to around 60 degrees on the asphalt at the 2.933-kilometre high-speed circuit around the Anhembi Sambadrome, the 37-year-old driver from the NEOM McLaren Formula E Team kept a cool head and took the chequered flag to claim a brilliant victory in the fourth race of the season. Mitch Evans (NZL/Jaguar TCS Racing) and Oliver Rowland (GBR/Nissan Formula E Team) followed him in second and third positions. Tens of thousands of passionate fans in the stands turned this Formula E event in South America into a colourful samba spectacular, cheering wildly as the 22 drivers produced some superb racing action with countless overtaking manoeuvres and duels on the track.
The Hankook iON Race also delivered yet another convincing performance. The official tyre of the Formula E World Championship developed a very high level of grip in the extreme asphalt temperatures, ensuring that the drivers were certain that they could take their manoeuvres to the very limit.
Manfred Sandbichler, Hankook Motorsport Director: “We are delighted with another outstanding performance from the Hankook iON Race in Formula E. The extreme heat at track level was like placing a heated blanket on our tyres, bringing it even more quickly into the perfect working window and generating plenty of grip. The drivers benefited from this in qualifying and during the race. The atmosphere around the circuit was unparalleled - a real celebration for Hankook and for Formula E.”
Race Tire Development Engineer Mike Choi: “Our tyres performed excellently once again. They had to deal with a range of track surfaces with different levels of grip, scattered around the track. Whether they were running on concrete, asphalt or freshly coated asphalt, the Hankook iON Race was as reliable as expected and delivered another great performance in the heat of Brazil.”
