Fenestraz warns of extreme Misano peloton

Sacha Fenestraz has warned that the peloton-style at this weekend's Misano E-Prix "maybe even worse" than what we saw in Portland last season, a race which consisted of 403 overtakes.

Last year's Portland E-Prix is the most extreme the peloton-style of racing has ever been, with there having been at times five cars alongside each other.

There was a wide range of opinions after that race whether the peloton was too much on that day, which is why the Nissan driver's prediction ahead of Formula E's inaugural trip to Misano is alarming.

The Misano E-Prix will take place at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, a purpose-built circuit designed for motorbikes.

It consists of several long straights and high-speed corners, which means qualifying ahead of both races this weekend is somewhat irrelevant.

"It's going to be a Portland version, Italian version, and maybe even worse, honestly, because there's more straight lines," Fenestraz exclusively told RacingNews365.

"So it's going to be a tricky race, qualifying is not going to be as important as Tokyo was but still relatively important, but I think it's all about the race. I think we're going to see some strong manufacturers at the front, like we've seen in those energy efficiency races.

"So I think for us, it's going to be to try to be in a good position and score some important points. But I think it's going to be a bus stop the whole race until our targets goes up and the race will get faster and faster."

'A podium might be tricky'

São Paulo is the only race where the peloton has been seen in 2024, with Sam Bird having won on that occasion for Nissan's customer side McLaren. Nissan's Oliver Rowland also finished on the podium.

However, that was somewhat of a mild peloton compared to Portland, where it was the Porsches and the Jaguars which looked the best.

Fenestraz predicts a rostrum could be tough for Nissan, although points out that Formula E's unpredictability means anything is possible.

"Yeah, it is," replied Fenestraz, when asked if the peloton really will be so extreme. "Regen and especially the way you use your energy will be crucial. And that's why I was saying I think the manufacturers with the strong efficiency numbers, I think they're going to be very strong.

"I think Nissan are going to be also in the game, but a podium might be tricky, but we never know, this is Formula E, that is a good thing.

"There is a lot of big stop, big braking zones, so it's going to be interesting to see how we're going to get on with that."