Jake Dennis might have left Berlin without any trophies – the first time he’s done so in a doubleheader event this season – but he says he leaves the German capital “a lot more confident” after his Andretti Formula E team completed a remarkable turnaround mid-event.
Dennis and teammate Norman Nato lanquished at the bottom of the qualifying standings on Saturday, and the Brit said he felt like he went into Sunday “with a point to prove” – and he duly rocketed to pole position for the second race of the weekend on Sunday.
“It was a lot of work, especially for the engineers and mechanics, to turn the car upside down and give me a car that was capable of pole – I couldn’t tell you all the changes, even I don’t know. There was a lot,” he told RACER. “We manged to fix most of our issues and had a really good day in terms of performance, it was just that end result wasn’t what we wanted.
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“But I’m leaving here a lot more confident rather than maybe getting a podium but again qualifying last, I leave with a bit of pace back in us over one lap and I’m looking forward to rest of the year.”
Dennis ultimately finished Sunday’s race fifth, a bid to charge further being dented by a brace of safety car periods that allowed those around him to save energy and take away to need to conserve in-race, which naturally leads to an abundance of overtaking opportunities – something Dennis has played to perfection all season.
“We’re always normally quite good at these races, especially ones where it’s a bit more flowing,” he said. “When it’s in between walls like Berlin, you’re very much stuck because it’s like two-by-two – you can’t even be crafty with it, you’re just in trains and if you’re not in the right lane and the right time, you’re screwed.
“Ultimately, after our second Attack Mode, we were too far back to be at the front when it mattered because after the second safety car the race was done, the race was too fast and you couldn’t do anything.”
The remaining six races of the Formula E season will take place over three more doubleheader weekends, with the first two – in Shanghai and Portland – taking place on wider, faster tracks which, although at permanent facilities, will produce similar ‘peloton-style’ races to what we saw in Berlin, with high-levels of energy conservation followed by an intense dash to the finish.
“I’m not unhappy about what’s coming next, I just know what we’re going to get into,” Dennis said of the upcoming races. “This is by far the worst track for it because it’s just walls, whereas in Shanghai and Portand you’ve got a bit of grass to play with so it’s a bit easier and you can get out of trouble a little bit sooner. But yeah, these are always high-risk races.”
He goes into the final six rounds fourth in the championship, 38 points behind leader Nick Cassidy, but while he remains in contention to retain his title, Dennis insists he isn’t feeling the pressure of the championship fight.
“I haven’t looked at the championship for the past two races,” he said. “Prior to Monaco I haven’t looked, so I imagine it’s not looking pretty, but we move on and we’ll try and score some good points.”