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Kevin Siggy (BMW i Andretti Motorsport) saw his chances of narrowing Formula E: Acceleratestandings leader Erhan Jajovksi's points advantage end in a half-spin in Round 4, with a frustrated, overzealous overtaking manoeuvre by his own admission.
Siggy found himself unable to match Frederik Rasmussen's pole lap at Diriyah, as the DRAGON / PENSKE AUTOSPORT racer nailed his effort to go a massive - in Formula E terms - 0.350 seconds clear of the rest - leaving the Slovenian too much to do in the one-shot format.
RACE REPORT: Catch up with Round 4 in full
From there, Rasmussen said it was a case of managing energy from out front in the race. A good start meant the Dane could do just that and despite Siggy pulling every trick in the book, Rasmussen wouldn't be unseated.
The margin for error in Formula E: Accelerate is non-existant with one tiny mistake through one corner in qualifying enough to see a driver drop ten positions - it has been relentless.
TUNE IN: Watch Formula E: Accelerate
The opening half of Round 4 played this out. Rasmussen, Siggy and Jajovski ran within a second of each other and looked like they were on autopilot, making no mistakes. Siggy felt he could do no more to make a move for first stick and his attempt on the lead ultimately cost him ground to Drivers' Championship leader Jajovski when he was seeking to claw points back on the North Macedonian.
'My race pace was better, I just couldn't get the job done'
"I just overcooked it in the braking zone in the incident between myself and Rasmussen," said Siggy. "I was too impatient sitting behind him and I was getting more annoyed lap by lap and I just couldn’t do anything about it.
"I was faster in Sector 2 the whole time and I was catching up to him but the track made it really impossible to overtake. I couldn’t see the 100-metre board on the left and I was not used to that kind of speed when turning in, so obviously it was my fault.
"My race overall wasn’t so great. I don’t think I could have set that time in qualifying – it’s just impossible at this stage. I did it in practice, but it’s much harder to do it on one lap in qualifying. Freddie nailed Sector 1 perfectly, and a strong Sector 2 and 3 helped me but I couldn’t match his time. My race pace was better and I was definitely faster, I just couldn’t get the overtake done."
Eyeing the double-points finale
Siggy's already spoken about staying in touch with an eye on making the double-points finale count, aware that though he's on the back foot thanks to Jajovski's mega start to the series - two race wins on the spin before the Slovenian broke the streak.
"Third was damage limitation and I lost maybe a couple of points on Erhan (Jajovski) so it wasn’t the best, but also not the worst. I’m pretty satisfied with my pace and podiums.
"They’re crucial to staying in the championship fight and I’ll have to do exactly the same at the Electric Docks. If I can, there’s a good chance of winning if I can take the victory in the final round with double points. I need to get as close as possible to have a bit of leeway heading into the final as there’ll be twice the difference in points between every position."