Frijns: “Good to Be Back” Driving After Formula E Crash Injury

Robin Frijns says it feels “good to be back” behind the wheel of a racing car at Sebring this weekend after a “frustrating” spell on the sidelines caused by an injury he sustained in January’s ABB FIA Formula E World Championship season-opener.

The Dutchman suffered a left wrist fracture and broken bones in his left hand at the Mexico City E-Prix when the steering wheel of his ABT Cupra Mahindra M9Electro violently jerked left as he struck the car ahead in a concertina collision.

Almost two months after the accident, Frijns is getting back into action as he drives the No. 31 Team WRT Oreca 07 Gibson in the WEC Prologue official pre-season test.

After spending a week in a Mexico City hospital, Frijns returned home to Europe in late January to continue his rehabilitation.

He missed the Formula E rounds in Diriyah, Hyderabad and Cape Town, where he was replaced by Kelvin van der Linde, but is hoping to be ready for the next race in Sao Paulo on March 25.

Alongside his electric racing program, Frijns is contesting the WEC season with Ferdinand Habsburg and Sean Gelael.

“It’s good to be back, it’s been a while,” Frijns told Sportscar365.

“It’s been very frustrating for me the last seven or eight weeks. Obviously, the last thing you want is to start the season like this. It’s definitely the worst start of my season ever.

“But it’s been very slow, because I had some complications in it.

“It was not just the bone that was fractured: I had like five fractures, four in the hand and one in the wrist. Everything inside was a bit out of place.

“The doctor said that it was a very complicated fracture, but I didn’t expect it to take so long. The bone is healed. I have 15 or 16 pins in, and two plates.

“The movement is still quite stiff because I needed to keep it quiet for the bone healing.”

Despite that, Frijns did not appear to be concerned about how his wrist and hand will feel when driving the WRT Oreca around the bumpy 3.741-mile Sebring circuit.

LMP2 cars have power steering, unlike the current Gen3 breed of Formula E cars.

“I’m totally not worried for this weekend, because of the power steering in P2,” said Frijns.

“[The next Formula E race in] Brazil is a bit of a different story because the Formula E steering wheel is really heavy.

“I did the simulator prep for Cape Town beforehand. It was doable, just the kickbacks I couldn’t really control so much.

“But this was four or five weeks ago. Hopefully, it’s better now.”

Frijns and Gelael finished second in last year’s LMP2 standings after winning three races, but their title bid was thwarted by retirement from the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

They teamed up with Rene Rast for most of the season, but Frijns’ 2021 co-champion Habsburg is now back in the No. 31 lineup after one year in WRT’s sister No. 41 car.

“We just had two problems: a water leak in Monza, which DNFd us and we had an engine problem at Le Mans,” Frijns recalled.

“Everything looked really promising: at the beginning of the season at Sebring, we finished P2. We won Spa, and then two problems hit us.

“That’s what you get when you only have six races in the championship. When you have 10 or 12 you can get back [into the title hunt] with the momentum you have.

“Two years ago I was teammates with Ferdi – he has been performing very well for the last two years in LMP2 especially. I’m happy with the lineup. Everything looks promising.”