Michael Andretti, Owner of the Andretti Formula E Team, is bringing Kamui Kobayashi San to this new season, Season 4, of the Formula E Championship.
Kamui Kobayashi, 31, is no stranger to professional racing. Currently racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship for the Toyota Gazoo Racing team, he also competes in the Super Formula Championship for KCMG and this new season in Formula E. Kobayashi sharpened his skills in the GP2 Series, the GP2 Asia Series, and Formula One from 2009 to 2012, taking a break until he returned in 2014.
He will be racing with Formula E veteran teammate Antonio Felix da Costa who had this to say about the new season: “It’s nice to be finally starting Season Four. It’s been a good offseason with the MS&AD Andretti team; everyone has been working really well together. I can see lots of motivated people around the team and believe the future is bright for us. We need to approach season 4 with the maximum strength that we have, really behave like a proper team and see what we can do. The city of Hong Kong is amazing; it is a really, really cool place to start the season. It will be great to be back. I have a lot of love from the Hong Kong area as Macau is very close and brings a lot of good memories.”
Kobayashi was also quoted saying: “I would like to thank everybody for giving me a chance to race at Hong Kong E-Prix. It is a challenge to go to the race without proper testing, but I have been through a similar situation in my career, so it should be okay.
“There are quite many familiar faces in this Formula E series, so I am really looking forward to the race and working with them again. I have been to Hong Kong few times but never imagined racing on the street there. So, really exciting to go there to race!
“For the MS&AD Andretti team, I will use all of my experiences and do my best to achieve the best result as possible. And for me, as this is a very special occasion and I am the only Japanese driver in the field, I want to enjoy the race and hope to be able to tell all the Japanese fans how exciting Formula E is. I wish my challenge will generate more Japanese interest in this series for the future.”
As far as Michael Andretti: “I’m looking forward to joining the team in Hong Kong for the first race of the season. I think we have a strong driver pairing in Antonio and Kamui, and the team has been working hard in the offseason to prepare for the year. The Hong Kong E-Prix was a strong opening race for us in Season Three and we’re hoping to better those results this weekend.”
Formula E & That FanBoost Thingy
And if you’re feeling some extra boost would help your favorite driver, head on out to the FanBoost area, where you can give your favorite driver some extra energy.
New to FanBoost? FanBoost allows you to vote for your favorite driver via social media to give them an extra power boost, perfect for overtaking or getting to the finish line in a spectacular way. You can start to vote right now, as well as during the opening 6 minutes of the race. The 3 winning Fanboost drivers each get an extra 100 kJ of energy that can be used between 180 kW and 200 kW.
Fanboost leaves many scratching their heads and some goes as far as saying that it unfairly helps some while holding back others.
We say: it’s fun, it’s new, we’re closer to the driver, and when one driver misbehaves and closes the door on our favorite driver, we give him the extra power for the next race. And that sums up how rugby is played, fair and square.
The Season 4 Formula E Championship will start next week and the Andretti Formula E Team is ready to take it on. Who are you boosting?
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