DS PENSKE raced around the blistering hot streets of Rome this weekend at the penultimate races of Season 9, with JEV finishing in the points on Saturday in fifth position and Stoffel Vandoorne today, Sunday, crossing the line in eighth.
The team was pleased to have Yann Erhlacher in Rome for the Rookie test and he did not disappoint delivering for the team a very professional session. After Yann’s positive Rookie test and Formula E debut on Friday, Stoffel and JEV took to the cockpits of their DS E-TENSE FE23 for two action packed races over the weekend.
JEV’s fifth place was followed by a 15thplace on Sunday, and Stoffel’s eighth preceded by an 11th place yesterday. It comes after two challenging qualifying sessions around the narrow city street track with little margin for error seeing JEV starting P16 and Stoffel starting P12 on Saturday. A different approach was taken for Sunday’s qualifying which delivered a similar P12 for JEV and P18 for Stoffel. However,valuable data from both qualifying sessions and races was gathered and will prove helpful for the final two races in London just around the corner.
Under an intense Roman heat wave both Saturday and Sunday races were full of action. Our drivers did everything possible to keep cool for the races with crew providing cars to both our gladiators to entered the weekend battles with confidence. Confidence, skill and luck limited their damage when accidents happened ahead of them.
On Saturday, both drivers had a good start, gaining position and activating attack mode. However, a large, multi-car accident on lap 9 red-flagged the race and brought all cars back to the pits during the long cleanup. Both cars avoided the accident but picked up damage which meant they had to be taken into the garage which allowed the mechanics to work quickly and professionally to turn the repairs around in time for the re-start. The re-start got underway, with Stoffel’s race ultimately ending just outside the points in P11. While re-starting from 11th, JEV pushed his way up the grid, fighting to the finish line and crossing in fifth with an absolute corker of a drive.
On Sunday, the soaring temperatures made for an even tougher racing environment for the team, car and drivers. Both drivers had a good start and on lap two, following a crash further up the field, JEV pushed his way into the top ten. However, damage to his front wing which made it dangerous to race meant he had to pit for a new wing putting him to the back of the field. He finished P15 but put in fastest lap of the race. Stoffel raced steadily, and on lap 11 he made it into the top ten and the points paying positions. He continued to overtake well and finished the race in P8.
The squad leaves a toasty Rome with valuable points. The team looks forward to heading to the ExCel for the final races of the season at the Hankook London E-Prix, with Round 15 & 16 taking place on 29thand 30th July 2023.
Team results – 2023 Rome E-Prix Round 13
|
Driver |
FP1 |
FP2 |
Quali |
Race |
|
VAN |
11 |
8 |
12 |
11 |
|
JEV |
6 |
10 |
16 |
5 |
Team results – 2023 Rome E-Prix Round 14
|
Driver |
FP3 |
Quali |
Race |
|
VAN |
P11 |
P18 |
P8 |
|
JEV |
P16 |
P12 |
P15 |
Jean-Eric Vergne, Formula E Champion in 2018 and 2019
‘Saturday was an eventful race, but the best news is that all drivers are ok and there was no one who got hurt, because in this kind of accident, it can go either way. Finishing P5 after starting P16 is a decent result, I am happy. But today’s race is one to forget. I went down the inside of Rast to overtake him, and I made the pass, but then in front of me a crash happened and there was just a pile up. But I’d already committed to late braking late and overtaking the McLaren so there was nowhere I could have gone or anything I could have done. I broke my front wing and I had to pit to replace it as it was too dangerous to drive with it. So, it was a lonely race, but at least we’ve had a weekend of gathering important data with the view of London ahead to try and improve our performance. Because this weekend was very challenging and we need to make a step forward for London.
Stoffel Vandoorne, reigning Formula E world champion
‘Saturday was a difficult day, qualifying did not go super well. We lacked a little bit pf pace and I wasn’t comfortable with the car. Then the race was hectic, we had a great couple of first laps and even managed to gain a few places, but then there was a huge shunt and had some damage. The mechanics did an amazing job under the red flag and got me back out on track. Unfortuntaley I finished P11 just out of the points.
It was difficult weekend in general, and today was obviously not a good qualifying. We tried some different things which didn’t work out and it wasn’t ideal to start 18th. But, we had a pretty good race. The race pace was quite good and I managed to overtake some cars. We had a good strategy; we were looking good on energy and ultimately, we finished P8. So, I think it was a very helpful race actually, in terms of understanding what our car needs. I’m happy to get at least a couple of points. We need to sort out our qualifying and then we should be better next time.
Yann Ehrlacher – Rookie Test Driver
‘For me, it was a very positive weekend, the team prepared me very well to be able to maximize my performance in the rookie test. I’ve never driven a Gen3 Formula E car before or been to Formula E, so it was all new. It was a 30-minute session in Stoffel’s car. I think it went well. Very grateful to have had the opportunity to drive a Gen 3 car for the team, and got to work with such a professional team as DS PENSKE.’
