Tag: Rome E-Prix

Andretti’s Dennis stretches Formula E title lead with ‘Grand Slam’ in Rome

Jake Dennis (Avalanche Andretti) took full advantage of his rivals’ misfortune to hammer his authority home on the ABB FIA Formula E drivers’ championship with a stunning first “Grand Slam” of the all-electric series’ GEN3 era: pole Position, …

Jake Dennis (Avalanche Andretti) took full advantage of his rivals’ misfortune to hammer his authority home on the ABB FIA Formula E drivers’ championship with a stunning first “Grand Slam” of the all-electric series’ GEN3 era: pole Position, fastest lap and the race win, leading every lap of Round 14 on the streets of Rome in the process.

Dennis led away from pole and just about kept himself out of the absolute disaster that struck his closest title rivals Nick Cassidy (Envision Racing) and Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing) behind on just the second lap of the race.

As the former took a look at Dennis for the lead into the braking zone at the infamous Turn 7, Evans lost the rear of his Jaguar in the compression, clipped the leader’s Andretti and spectacularly launched over the top of Cassidy’s Envision Racing Jaguar I-TYPE 6. It was another huge moment in the battle for the drivers’ title and one Dennis took full advantage of. Evans’ damage proved terminal while Cassidy could only recover to 14th by the end of the race.

“It hurts — it sucks right now,” Evans said. “It all happened very quickly, I wasn’t expecting them to back up so much as I was approaching the back of Jake Dennis. I tried to avoid it, but then I rode Nick Cassidy’s wheel, and it just got out of control. I feel really bad. It caught me by surprise, I was not expecting them to be that slow at the apex.

“I was in an attacking mindset, I wanted to make progress and position myself into Turn 8 to get Nick, but obviously it didn’t go to plan. Feel sorry for Nick, and the Envision Racing guys. This has obviously really hurt my championship now.”

From that point, Dennis pulled away to the tune of three seconds at the checkered flag, helped by Nissan’s Norman Nato managing to hold off Sam Bird (Jaguar TCS Racing) for the duration despite suffering early damage to his front wing.

“I am honestly lost for words how we have just won that race. It was so tactical inside the cockpit, trying to keep Bird within a certain distance because obviously he is going to try and help Mitch (Evans),” said Dennis. “I really needed Norman as my wingman that race, and we worked together really well. I gave him space to help him defend when Bird went on ATTACK MODE and then when I needed the same he did just that.”

Dennis is one of only three drivers to have sealed a Grand Slam and is the first driver to have achieved the feat twice in Formula E history. More importantly, that result means Dennis takes a 24-point advantage over Cassidy into the season finale doubleheader in London on July 29-30 — home soil and a circuit he’s strong at as a two-time winner. Evans is 44 points back in third, while TAG Heuer Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein retains a slim mathematical hope, 49 points shy of top spot with 58 points available.

Envision Racing heads the way in the teams’ table by 13 points over TAG Heuer Porsche.

 

Evans wins opening race of Rome E-Prix doubleheader

Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing) became the first polesitter to stride to victory in Rome in Hankook Rome E-Prix Round 13. The first race of the weekend doubleheader was itself a race of two halves, split by a massive multi-car shunt involving his …

Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing) became the first polesitter to stride to victory in Rome in Hankook Rome E-Prix Round 13. The first race of the weekend doubleheader was itself a race of two halves, split by a massive multi-car shunt involving his teammate Sam Bird and several other drivers.

Polesitter Evans was jumped by Bird off the line, with Jaguar looking like playing it tactically, ensuring the New Zealander could conserve energy in the slipsteam behind the sister I-TYPE 6.

The pair swapped back after the opening throes of the race before Sacha Fenestraz (Nissan) made it by Bird first and then Evans for the race lead through the first round of ATTACK MODE power boost activations and a brief break in the action for a safety car while Andre Lotterer’s car was recovered after the German found the wall.

High drama on lap 9 saw multiple cars caught up in a massive shunt at the quickest part of the track with Bird losing the rear of his Jaguar over the tricky, rapid and undulating section between Turns 6 and 7.

Sebastien Buemi’s Envision Racing clipped back end of the Jaguar on his way through — the Swiss narrowly missing a square-on impact, though still suffering severe and terminal damage to his car. Edoardo Mortara (Maserati MSG Racing) flew into the side of Bird’s I-TYPE 6 as it sat stricken in the middle of the circuit while several other drivers picked their way through and escaped with minor damage — including championship contender Pascal Wehrlein (TAG Heuer Porsche). That meant big ramifications for the teams and drivers — who all thankfully escaped unharmed in testament to the GEN3 Formula E car’s resilience — as well as the potential final destination of the title; standings leader Dennis himself also coming within inches of a big race-ending smash.

Fourteen cars made the restart, with Fenestraz heading the pack away with Evans in tow. From there, Dennis seized the initiative, passing Evans with a sweeping move around the outside of the Jaguar driver through Turn 5 before slicing by Fenestraz for the lead on lap 13. Evans and Cassidy followed by the Nissan in quick succession and after the former missed his second ATTACK MODE activation, it looked like Dennis’s race to lose.

However, the Jaguar driver put in the fastest lap of the race twice on the bounce and made amends to pass Dennis for the lead on lap 22. The Brit exclaimed he was a “sitting duck,” down on energy targets to those around him and the ease at which Cassidy pinched second from him showed as much.

Evans closed it out from there easily, heading home Cassidy while Maximilian Guenther (Maserati MSG Racing) also dispatched Dennis for third at the flag. The Andretti driver had it all on defending to the line from Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Penske). He did hold fast, though, with Vergne following fifth under severe pressure from Nico Mueller for his and ABT CUPRA’s best result of the season.

“First of all it was good to see everyone was fine after that shunt — it was pretty big and obviously Sam had a pretty scary moment, so good to see everyone is fine,” said Evans. “After that I was a little bit down on energy compared to Nick and Jake, so I had to try and equalize that. The energy targets dropped a lot after the safety car, so it became much more of an energy race than we were expecting. But I managed it well, and the team helped guide me through like always, and then leave the rest for me.

“One little scare was missing the Attack Mode. I missed it at the last loop — I was going through super slow and I still missed it! I need to practice that tomorrow. But a huge result today, maximum points, which was what I needed. Only a small dent into Nick’s lead, but it’s better than nothing.

“Four wins here is amazing — not sure what it is about this place, but I love the track. We obviously have another day tomorrow, I think people will make another big step, Nick was quick in the race as well. It is there for the taking tomorrow but we need to take the right steps, and hopefully we have got a good balance like we had today.”

The second race in the Hankook Rome E-Prix takes place Sunday, starting at 9:00am ET. The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship then concludes with Rounds 15 and 16 in London on the weekend of July 29 and 30.