The repeated word of the day at the inaugural Jakarta E-Prix on Saturday, June 4th was ‘Temperature.’ Sweltering heat gave the eleven teams a challenge to manage energy and tire wear, while the heat between the victor, Mitch Evans (Jaguar), and second-place Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Techeetah) kept things sweaty during the race.
After holding pole position for the majority of the race, Vergne was surprised in turn 7 late in the race by a stunning inside attack from Evans, who had tested and prodded for vulnerability in the leader’s defenses. Evans took the lead with roughly five minutes left in the race and spent them painstakingly fending off counterattacks by Vergne and the rapidly approaching third-place driver, Edoardo Mortara (ROCKiT Venturi), who took advantage of the leader’s dropping energy levels to catch the pair battling for the checkered flag.
“That was hard. I was just happy to be in it at the end,” said Evans. “We had a tough last race, and this track was similar with the climate being on another level. We put a lot of work into the setup and the systems, but the team gave me what I need, gave me the goods.”
“It was really tight at the end with JEV, I thought I was going to pull away but my tires started going off as soon as I got past him. I was under a bit of heat but we got the job done. This is what we needed.”
“We needed a good result today. But obviously, it was a new track, new climate, new everything: you don’t really know how it is going to go. So I am very happy with the result; we are back in it although we were never really out, but it has put us in a strong position so I’ll take that.”
“Hats off to Mitch and Jaguar, they were simply faster today,” said Vergne. “I need to understand what happened as I had to save a lot more at some point for temperature reasons. Anyway, second is good — strong points, so if we carry on like this for the rest of the championship it is good. I am happy there were no more laps!”
With the heat at the track, energy levels across the finish line were right at 0.0% for the lead drivers, proving they left everything on the course during that tense three-way fight during the final laps. However, it was Evans’ gutsy attack and seemingly unbreakable parries that secured him the podium ahead of the other points leaders for the season.
Finishing in reverse order of driver points, Evans now stands at 109, Mortara at 114, Vergne at 116, and fifth-place finisher Stoffel Vandoorne leads with a narrower gap at 121. Thanks to Evans’ victory and the points leaders dropping down to the upper middle of the pack to finish the race, the driver points standings have become close enough to make the championship just about anyone’s to expect.
Next up is the Marrakesh E-Prix on July 2nd, we’ll see you back there for more close battery-powered racing action!
