Round 5 – Challenging Saturday race in Tokyo for DS PENSKE

• Round 5: The very first Tokyo E-Prix thrilled thousands of spectators and fans
• Tough Qualifying for DS PENSKE but progress made during the race by both drivers
• DS PENSKE leaves the Land of the Rising Sun in the top five of the Formula E Teams’ classification

 Tokyo, Japan – DS PENSKE hit the track around the stunning Tokyo Big Sight for the highly anticipated first edition of the Tokyo E-Prix and finished Saturday’s race out of the points with Jean-Eric Vergne in 12^th and Stoffel Vandoorne in 16^th.

 With two days of bumpy track running, the Japanese circuit was a challenging drive for all the competitors and put the all-electric single seaters to the test. In the first free practice session, the Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne encountered battery problems directly linked to the bumps, forcing the team to change the battery before the race.

 Both drivers struggled to find performance in these tricky conditions resulting in Jean-Eric Vergne starting the race in 14^th and his team mate in 18^th. In the race, both the drivers put themselves in the hunt with strong driving and sharp strategy that enabled them to move forwards towards the points-scoring zone. JEV pushed as much as possible over the 35 laps, showing strong pace that nearly paid off but ultimately landed the two-time Formula E Champion in 12^th place. Stoffel Vandoorne ended up in 16^th place.

 DS PENSKE leaves Tokyo in the top five of the Teams’ Championship. The squad will now focus on looking to optimize the set-up and make improvements to deliver more thrilling battles and bounce back.

 After 5 amazing races on 4 different continents, the team looks forward to returning to Europe. After five visits to Rome, the all-electric series ventures across Italy to land on the Adriatic coast around the legendary Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli for Round 6 and 7 on April 13 and 14, 2024. Auto racing in Italy is extremely popular and this double-header event is expected to be one of the most exciting races of the season 10.

 Team results – 2024 Tokyo E-Prix Round 5

 Stoffel Vandoorne, 2022 Formula E World Champion

‘It was a complicated weekend right from the beginning, when we missed FP1 with a battery problem. It’s even more of a shame as we were on a new circuit. Those laps would have been very important for us to try and find the right pace. So we found ourselves a long way down the order throughout the entire weekend. But I don’t want to use that as an excuse. We simply didn’t have the pace we hoped for. We were fighting the set-up, the tyres, the energy management: all of which made it very hard to make progress. Now we need to learn from all this.”

 Jean-Eric Vergne, 2018 & 2019 Formula E Champion

‘It was a difficult weekend with no points for us, which is obviously disappointing. But it’s still a long season with several races ahead, so everything is possible. We continue to work hard but the weekend in Japan was difficult. Now we have to analyse everything quickly and see how we can improve for the future.”