23-year-old Oliver Rowland has been tipped to make his FIA Formula E Championship debut at the Punta del Este ePrix in December, driving for Mahindra Racing in place of the injured Nick Heidfeld.
Heidfeld suffered ligament damage in his left wrist during the Putrajaya ePrix, and missed the WEC 6 Hours of Bahrain. Heidfeld has now opted for surgery to repair the injury, which will sideline him for the Uruguayan round on 19 December.
“During the Putrajaya ePrix, I damaged a ligament in my left wrist when the steering snapped out of my hand," Heidfeld said of his injury. "On the advice of my doctors, I have undergone an operation to repair it. Unfortunately, this means that I will miss the next race in Punta del Este but I wish the team well and hope they return from Uruguay with a Christmas stocking full of points."
Rowland was very positive about his first opportunity to race in Formula E, saying:
"Formula E represents many aspects of the future of motorsport and it gained huge traction in the first season. It has one of the most competitive driver line-ups and I am looking forward to some close racing among them and I hope to show what I can do. It will be a steep learning curve to get to grips with the new electric racing technology but I’m sure that once the visor goes down we will have some fun.
"I intend to make the most of this opportunity and extract the maximum out of the car. Thank you to Mahindra Racing for the opportunity and I wish Nick Heidfeld a quick recovery.”
Rowland, the top prospect of the Racing Steps Foundation, set new records this year in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series, winning eight races en route to winning the 2015 series championship for Fortec Motorsport. The Brit also drove a successful partial slate in the GP2 Series this season, and had been taking part in GP2 winter testing in Abu Dhabi this week.
Rowland joins 2012 Formula Renault 3.5 champion Robin Frijns on the grid, along with FR3.5 race-winning alumni Sam Bird, Antonio Felix da Costa, Jean-Eric Vergne, Oliver Turvey, and Nathanael Berthon.
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