Team Aguri look to be in very good shape in Malaysia, which comes as something of a surprise to many given that the team has stuck with the first season powertrain.

With Beijing complete and an entire race weekend of data to work with, Formula E’s new constructor teams were expected to make giant leaps forward in Putrajaya. That hasn’t proved to be the case thus far, however, with Antonio Felix da Costa seventh fastest free practice.We caught up with Aguri’s team boss, Mark Preston.

Can you hope to match Dragon Racing’s excellent race pace energy management?

MP: Yes, we can match them. We’ve done a lot of software work and upgrades since testing at Donington. We validated those in Beijing, and both drivers were inside energy targets, which I was really pleased with.

I think some of the teams – Renault is a good example – have found some advantages in not only powertrain but damping and other areas. We should all be able to catch them on that. Everybody’s powertrains are homologated, but software isn’t homologated, dampers aren’t homologated, so you can change those and make progress relative to your competition. We should be able to match pace, and in fact catch some of the other teams, with other aspects of chassis development; which is normal in any motor racing series.

What sort of finish can the team achieve in Malaysia?

MP: I think some of the reliability issues probably haven’t shown up yet: everyone’s got to keep the same gearboxes for the entire season, so there’s still time for them to have trouble. One race in Formula E is not a long distance in comparison to a lot of series, so we haven’t really seen those new parts put to the test properly yet.

I think in qualifying we’re not as competitive as in the race. If we can end up around the top 10 in qualifying, then I absolutely believe we can see both drivers well inside the top 10 in the race. Having good race pace is more important than great qualifying pace.For example, Antonio overtook nine cars in Beijing, and he has shown time and again that’s something he can do. He didn’t overtake a Renault, but he did overtake one of pretty much every other car on the grid.

We were also able to maximise a strategy opportunity presented to us, because Nathanael was able to save a lap’s worth of energy in the first stint and that paid off handsomely in the end. I think we can go well here, because this is a real drivers’ track and that will suit our guys.

Has the team started looking at season three yet?

MP: We’re definitely looking at season three tech. We probably haven’t changed our technical direction from our earlier thoughts, but we’re talking about it right now.