04/28/2016

PARIS E-PRIX: RICHARD MILLE APPLAUDS THE STRONG PERFORMANCE OF E.DAMS-RENAULT

History was made on Saturday, 23 April, as the rst ever Paris Formula E Grand Prix was held on the esplanade before the Invalides. The 18,000 spectators that turned out for the event had good reason to cheer for the e.dams-Renault team, of which Richard Mille is the ‘partner in time’.

On this handsome circuit, e.dams-Renault’s duo of drivers Sébastien Buemi and Nicolas Prost proved themselves particularly outstanding. On the strength of a good start, Sébastien Buemi, fought his way from an 8th place start to climb the podium in third place behind Brazilian Lucas Di Grassi and Frenchman Jean-Éric Vergne. Nicolas Prost nished 4th, a mere 2.142 seconds behind his teammate.

Following this historic rst ever Paris E-Prix, conducted within sight of Napoleon Bonaparte’s nal resting place in the seventh arrondissement of Paris, e.dams-Renault, defending World Champion constructor, now leads the Team Championship with 165 points. In the driver category, Sébastien Buemi is in 2nd place and Nicolas Prost in 6th.

Alain Prost, who is co-owner of e.dams-Renault with Jean-Paul Driot, is delighted with these results from a race that saw electric singleseaters race against the clock over the 1.93-kilometre circuit with its 14 turns, wound around the Hôtel des Invalides: “Before this weekend, I thought we might not be able to pull off such a good showing. But, given the pressure we were under, and the problems we had with tyre temperature during qualifying sessions, nishing the race without losing points in the Team category was already a good thing. And it’s great for Sébastien, who is still a favourite for the championship, to be on the podium, especially here at home, in France. Nicolas also turned in a strong performance, so we are pleased overall.”

France’s capital had never before hosted a Grand Prix race. Two years ago, when Richard Mille signed with the e.dams team’s owners Jean-Paul Driot and Alain Prost, the championship was still in its infancy. No one had anticipated its phenomenal success worldwide, from London to Shanghai via Miami.

Formula E rests on three fundamental values that attracted Richard Mille: the environment, energy and performance. The FIA championship gives teams like e.dams an opportunity to showcase their innovations in the area of electric power and creates a terri c platform supporting the development of new technologies that can be adapted to future generations of automobiles. This spirit of research and innovation and research pushing the limits of extreme performance is also characteristic of Richard Mille, for whom the revolutionary concept behind the E-prix and the unquestionable expertise of e.dams-Renault fully justify the brand’s association with the team that currently leads this competition.