Jake Dennis had to fight in the first laps with Jean Eric Vergne and Mitch Evans, but the Englishman from the Andretti team took off to win Race 1 of the Formula E Diriyah E-Prix.
JEV, the nickname with which the whole circus calls Jean Eric Vergne, was good together with his team DS Penske in adopting different strategies from his rivals, taking the first Attack Mode in the first laps when he was in the lead in order to control the moves of others.
The strategy worked and Vergne managed to maintain second place despite the attacks of Mitch Evans, who in the final corners of the last lap attempted a coup but failed, leaving two positions on the way, going from third to fifth place.
Nick Cassidy took the opportunity to get the second podium in two races with the Jaguar TCS team… and if consistency pays off in Formula E, as everyone has always said, here’s the dish with one of the championship candidates is served.
Sam Bird returned to the top of the standings with a fourth place and he is the driver who gained the most positions in the race. From ninth place to fourth in Formula E, on a circuit like this, is a feat worth highlighting.
Norman Nato and Maximilian Günther had a solid and very accurate race in energy management, arriving at the finish line in sixth and seventh position; while Pascal Wehrlein was fighting for the important positions in the first laps, he got lost along the way as the laps went by and only finished eighth. The German from the Mauritius Islands maintains the championship lead for the moment, but with just one point over Nick Cassidy and three points ahead of Vergne.
The satisfaction of Sérgio Sette Câmara was curious, as he reached the finish line in ninth position starting from fourth place.
It seems like a joke to be happy to finish ninth starting from fourth place, but we are not efficient with our car and we had to limit the damage; so we adopted a defensive strategy to maximize energy savings and it worked – said the driver from Belo Horizonte.
The final point of tenth place went to Robin Frijns, thus contributing to the Envision Jaguar cause after the accident in the first race in Mexico.
Earlier on, Oscar-winning actor Adrien Brody experienced driving the Formula E Gen3 race car for two high-speed laps of the track. He also tried out the Porsche Taycan safety car. He was joined by his partner, fashion designer Georgina Chapman, to watch the race.
Today we repeat with Race 2… which will consist of a total of 36 laps, one less than yesterday…
Jake Dennis, n° 1, Andretti Formula E Team, said:
I can only honestly thank these guys out here so much, you know, we’ve had a difficult start to the season, but we turned it around and came back. I got my biggest win in Formula E tonight. The last eight, nine laps I could really give everything and create that 13 second lead. These days don’t come around very often. I got to show these guys tonight and we’ll try and do it again tomorrow.
There was a little bit of debate between me and the team about when we should take it [ATTACK MODE] but ultimately, we got it right. That was the main thing, it’s obviously so difficult to overtake here. We saw Mitch Evans trying to pull a do or die move, and thankfully that didn’t work out and allowed me to get away.
I have to say the enjoyment of racing here in Saudi under the lights and just enjoying every lap. It was so much fun. The track really started to grip up at the end and we could actually push the cars. It was a pretty phenomenal performance.
Jean Eric Vergne, n° 25 DS Penske said:
Usually starting on pole you want to win the race, any other place is a disappointment but I’m very happy today. The pace we set – it’s been flying doing the race, it’s the best I could have done today, we made a huge step forward compared to last year, I’m very happy that the work is paying off. We’re catching up, we’re not there, but we’re gonna be there. And in some races, I hope we’ll have everything to beat them. Right now, I’m very happy to get some points and improve things. We’ll fight for more wins later on.
Nick Cassidy, n° 37, Jaguar TCS Racing, said:
Hello to everyone in Saudi Arabia – this is really cool, it’s amazing to see an event like this in Formula E. I was really lucky, I had a really fast car today and my team were amazing. I made a bit of a wrong choice at qualifying, but the team’s support in the race and in qualifying was really mega. So, this one’s for them.
Although we were having radio issues during the race, their comms to me was super clear, they did a great job.
In the following links you can read and/or download the official Final Ranking of Race 1, the positions of the drivers’ championship and those of the teams’ championship. (PDF)
031_Doc 31 – Final Classification Race
032_Doc 32 – Drivers Championship Points after R2
033_Doc 33 – Teams Championship Points after R2
#MarceloPadin #theEMNteam
Source: Formula E
Photo Credits: Formula E
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