Frijns leaves hospital, Abt Cupra confirm replacement driver

The Abt Cupra team have confirmed that Kelvin van der Linde will replace Robin Frijns for the upcoming Diriyah E-Prix.

Frijns was involved in an opening-lap crash at the Mexico City E-Prix and sustained severe injuries to his wrist, which required a lengthy operation.

With the Dutchman unlikely to be available for much of the season, the Abt Cupra team were tasked with finding a replacement driver in time for the second round of the championship: The Diriyah E-Prix double-header on 27th-28th January.

Team Principal Thomas Biermaier confirmed that South African van der Linde - who has prior experience with Abt in the DTM series - had always been earmarked for a reserve driver role.

“Kelvin has been part of the ABT family for years in a variety of roles. He has been involved since the beginning of our comeback project and was intended as Reserve Driver right from the start - so it was immediately clear to us that he would take over from Robin,” said Biermaier.

“We are in constant contact with Robin and wish him a speedy recovery. Even though everyone in the team misses him a lot, we’re giving him all the time he needs to fully recover from the injury – that’s our absolute priority."

After what appeared to be a minor crash on the opening lap of the Mexico City E-Prix, it emerged afterwards that Frijns had sustained a broken wrist due to the jarring of the steering wheel.

Following a five hour operation, Frijns described the ordeal as the "worst injury" of his career and, when dismissed from hospital following a recovery period, paid tribute to the medical team for their efforts to 'save his career'.