OLIVER Rowland has been disappointed to watch his beloved Barnsley FC slip down the League One table this season but is hoping to build on his own lead in the Formula E standings in Miami this weekend.
The 31-year-old from Penistone is 17 points clear at the top of the standings in the electric car series after four of the 16 races.
After a time penalty when leading the first race, he has finished first then second then first in the next three.
The last event was a double-header in Saudi Arabia two months ago.
Rowland told the Chronicle: “It couldn’t have gone much better so far.
“I’ve nearly scored maximum points but in the first race I had the penalty when leading, and lost the lead on the last corner in Jeddah which was frustrating.
“But to be so competitive in all four races, and win two, is really pleasing.
“There is still a long way to go so we can’t get too excited.
“It’s quite clear for me that I just need to keep doing what I’ve been doing, scoring points in every race and make the best out of each scenario good or bad.
“If I keep doing that, I should build up a bit of a buffer at the top.
“It’s just nice to be in this position because I had a few tough years then last season was a lot better but I missed the last two races with illness when I had a slight chance of the title.
“It shows my decision to leave my last team Mahindra and come back to Nissan was the right one.”
Rowland is a Reds fan and has been keeping an eye on their fall into mid-table this season.
“It’s not been the best.
“I’ve seen Conor Hourihane is the interim head coach.
“I used to play with him on FIFA.
“Hopefully they can have a good end of the season and go again but it’s not great at the moment.”
Rowland has been in Florida for the last week.
He said: “I came out here last Friday and my family are here too.
“We went off to Disneyland which was great.
“It’s a good life.
“We have our pressures and sometimes it is lonely, but it doesn’t get better when you are competing somewhere like this and you can bring your family.
“But it was a long trip from Dubai where we live now.
“The race is on a part oval with an infield. It’s a traditional American track and different to what we are used to.
“Given where our car has been relatively strong so far, we’re hoping it will be good for us.
“It’s a brand new track for everybody so we will have to wait and see.
“I think it will be a very tactical race with people saving energy at the start then going for it at the end.”
After the Miami race, there are double-headers in Monaco in early May, they Tokyo and Shanghai before the series moves on to Jakarta and Berlin before finishing in London in July.
The races are shown on ITV.
