Alongside team-mate Jean-Éric Vergne, who will be making his debut at the circuit, Bird will hope to emulate the dominant performance that gave him his maiden Formula E race victory last year.
The Putrajaya Street Circuit is one of the most iconic on the Formula E calendar, running along the Putrajaya Boulevard, which sits against the stunning backdrop of the Perdana Putra, housing the office complex of the Malaysian Prime Minister.
The 28-year old Brit finished seventh in the opening race in Beijing two weeks ago, picking up six points, as French team-mate Jean-Éric Vergne crossed the line in 12th place, outside the points. Speaking after the race in the Chinese capital, Bird said: “There’s definitely plenty for us to work on as a team, but I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be racing next than Putrajaya in Malaysia. Alongside my win in London, this was without question the highlight of last season.”
Bird also topped the FanBoost leaderboard two weeks ago in China and he is hoping his team will be able to claim extra energy more often this season through the unique online voting system: “I was delighted to win the FanBoost vote in Beijing. It certainly came as a bit of a surprise! We only managed to pick up FanBoost once last year, so hopefully JEV and I can be in the mix a bit more this season.”
Ahead of his race debut in Putrajaya, Jean-Éric Vergne, said: “We were encouraged by the pace that we showed at times in Beijing, particularly in qualifying when we were P2, so there’s positives that we will take into the race in Malaysia. Hopefully I can help the team repeat the success of our performances here last year.”
Virgin Racing Team Principal, Alex Tai, said: “We know that we didn’t perform to our ability in Beijing so now we need to make sure that we learn from China and deliver in Malaysia. Our performances here last year will give us plenty of encouragement so come Saturday evening, I hope we will be reflecting on a job well done.”
Fans can submit a Fanboost vote via the official app or website atwww.fiaformulae.com/fanboost or via Twitter and Instagram by posting the #Fanboost hashtag alongside either #SamBird or #JeanEricVergne.
FIA Formula E Championship 2015-16 – Round Two, Putrajaya, Malaysia – Key Race Timings
Friday 6 November 2015
| Shakedown | 3.00pm |
| Qualifying Group Lottery (e-village) | 4.45pm |
Saturday 7 November
| Non-qualifying practice | 7.45am |
| Qualifying Group 1 | 10.00am |
| Qualifying Group 2Qualifying Group 3 | 10.10am10.20am |
| Qualifying Group 4 | 10.30am |
| Super Pole | 10.45am |
| Race | 2.04pm |
For more information on the Virgin Racing Formula E Team, please visit the website:
https://www.ds-virginracing.com
– ENDS –
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