Jake Dennis celebrates second win of the season for BMW i Andretti Motorsport in London.
After a tactically astute and commanding driving performance in his home race in London (GBR), Jake Dennis (GBR) has celebrated his second win in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship for BMW i Andretti Motorsport. The British driver started the London E-Prix from second on the grid in the #27 BMW iFE.21. He moved ahead in the opening third of the race, pulled away from his rivals before using the second attack mode and never looked likely to surrender the lead. Having already tasted victory at Valencia (ESP), this is the second time that Dennis has topped the podium in his Formula E debut season. His team-mate Maximilian Günther (GER) crossed the finish line in 20th place.
Dennis had already given an impressive performance in the morning’s free practice session, recording the second-fastest time behind Günther in difficult and rainy conditions. One feature of the track layout in particular made the session a challenging one. As one section of the 2.252-kilometre circuit runs through the surroundings of ExCel London and another section is located inside the halls themselves, the drivers struggled with aquaplaning on the wet outdoor surface, while the track inside the exhibition centre was bone dry.
The course gradually dried out as the qualifying session progressed. Both BMW i Andretti Motorsport drivers were chasing the best time in group three. Günther’s session ended early after he slammed into a wall when braking into a corner. Dennis was right behind him and was forced to abort his fast lap. When qualifying restarted, the British driver was able to try again. He managed to reach the Super Pole competition, where he secured second place on the grid that proved to be the perfect starting point for his victorious drive.
This victory sees Dennis move up to third place in the drivers’ standings. He has now scored 79 points and is just two points off the lead. Günther is in 15th place with 54 points. BMW i Andretti Motorsport is sixth in the team standings, with 133 points.
Race 13 of the season will take place on Sunday in London as well. It starts at 15:00 CEST (14:00 local time).
Reactions to Race 12 in London.
Roger Griffiths (BMW i Andretti Motorsport Team Principal, team standings: 6th place):
“From Jake’s point of view, it was a strong qualifying session that put him on the front row. After a sensible start from him, he settled into a good rhythm and then we experienced some smart driving from him and some smart strategy calls from the engineering team. We saw the result with Jake on the podium and massive rewards towards his championship position. On Maximilian’s side of the garage it was a different story. What was looking like a good qualifying lap really came to nothing with the impact into the wall. It took a big team effort to get the car rebuilt in time for the race. Both car crews got together and worked well. That shows the strength of the team. Unfortunately with Maximilian starting from the back, it meant it was going to be hard work all afternoon. He made up some positions, but after another contact he slipped back to P20. I am looking forward to tomorrow. Let’s see what we can do again here in London.”
Jake Dennis (#27 BMW iFE.21, starting position: 2nd place, race result: 1st place, points: 79, driver standings: 3rd place):
“I am super happy. I pretty much didn’t know what to expect going into the race. It was a little bit different to normal, with really not much energy-saving going on. It was obviously an intense battle with Alex Lynn; I was trying to put him under pressure. We took the risk to stay up in front when he took his second attack mode. I knew I could keep him behind, but I didn’t know if it would work out better or not. Luckily he made a small mistake and then it was about three qualifying laps to pull the two-second gap before I went for my second attack mode. Then it was just a matter of bringing it home when we got the lead. We had really severe vibrations on the right rear. It was probably in the last 15 laps of the race. I was generally not taking any kerb just to make sure to bring it home. Now being third in the championship is far more than I expected at the beginning of the season.”
Maximilian Günther (#28 BMW iFE.21, starting position: 24th place, race result: 20th place, points: 54, driver standings: 15th place):
“Congratulations to the entire team. Unfortunately, I could not see what was going on ahead in the race from where I was, but of course, that was a great job by Jake. He was great in qualifying and drove a superb race. During practice, I felt good in the car. It was the same in qualifying too but then I unfortunately had that crash. That was the end of our chances for today. That is hard to take but it is also part of the business. In the race, I did all I could to get the most out of it but I was a long way from the points. Tomorrow is a brand new day and that is what we are concentrating on now.”
The FANBOOST vote.
FANBOOST gives Formula E fans the opportunity to vote for their favourite driver and award them an extra boost of power during the race. The five drivers with the most FANBOOST votes receive an extra 100 kJ of power, which they can make use of during a brief time frame in the second half of the race. Fans can vote for their favourite driver in the four days prior to, and leading up to 15 minutes into, each race. Each fan can vote once per day. There are two ways to vote: Online at https://fanboost.fiaformulae.com/ or via the official Formula E App.
The BMW Group Safety Cars.
The BMW Group has been represented in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship as ‘Official Vehicle Partner’ since the very beginning and will continue to provide the fleet of safety cars for season 7 of the fully-electric racing series. Alongside the BMW i8 Roadster Safety Car (fuel consumption (combined): 2.0 l /100 km; energy use (combined): 14.5 kWh /100 km; combined CO2 emissions: 46 g/km)*, which has been modified specially for racing use, the MINI Electric Pacesetter inspired by JCW will be appearing as a new safety car from the Rome E-Prix onwards. The development of the car based on the new MINI Cooper SE represents a hitherto unique collaboration between MINI Design, BMW Motorsport, the FIA and Formula E. The fleet also includes the BMW i3s (Power consumption in kWh/100: 14.6-14.0 (NEDC); 16.6-16.3 (WLTP), electric range in km: 278-283 (WLTP))* as ‘Race Director Car’ and the BMW iX3 (Power consumption in kWh/100: 17.8-17.5 (NEDC); 19.0-18.6 (WLTP), electric range in km: 450-458 (WLTP))* in its roles as ‘Medical Car’ and ‘Rescue Car’.
