Diriyah- Asdaf News:
The 2023 CORE Diriyah E-first Prix’s of two races was won by Pascal Wehrlein (TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team) from ninth place. Jake Dennis (Avalanche Andretti Formula E), who leads the standings, finished second after starting from 11th.
As he maneuvered his way through the places that awarded points to reach the front of the group, Wehrlein appeared to be the fastest on the course. On lap 30, at turn 16, Sam Bird (Jaguar TCS Racing) was unable to stop Wehrlein’s 99X Electric Gen3 from making a drive for the lead. For a second consecutive race, the car and driver both appeared to be in control. The 28-year-old described it as an emotional victory and once more thanked his players for putting in a tremendous lot of effort away from the field to get things so right there.
Jake Dennis driving an Avalanche with a Porsche engine From all the way back in 11th place on the grid, Andretti fought his factory Porsche rival all the way to the finish line, but he was unable to overtake Wehrlein, who secured his second Formula E victory on his 50th start.
The outcome was a reverse of the one-two finish we saw in the 2023 Hankook Mexico City E-Prix two weeks prior, and as the GEN3 development race picks up speed, both TAG Heuer Porsche and Avalanche Andretti appear to have issued a challenge to the rest of the field.
Sam Bird, who won in New York City in Season 7, was thrilled to finish on the podium for the first time since then. The Brit, who had a difficult Season 8—the only one in which he hasn’t won a Formula E trophy—called it a “little victory” for himself and Jaguar.
With a Julius Baer pole position start and a fourth-place finish, Sébastian Buemi (Envision Racing) achieved his best result since the Season 6 finale in Berlin.
NEOM McLaren Formula E Team’s René Rast started fifth and ended fifth following a long battle in middle of the points-paying positions. He also sealed the TAG Heuer Fastest Lap.
Nick Cassidy made it two Envision Racing cars in the top six. Jean-Éric Vergne fought from 12th to the points for DS PENSKE, winding up just ahead of Jake Hughes in the sister McLaren. André Lotterer (Avalanche Andretti) and Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing) rounded out the top 10 – the latter slipping from sixth on the grid.
That leaves Dennis as standings leader at just a point over Werhlein – 44 to 43 points – while Avalanche Andretti retain their Teams’ advantage over TAG Heuer Porsche, 58 to 49 points, with Envision Racing third.
Formula E’s return to Diriyah, a historical and cultural destination in Saudi Arabia, marks a groundbreaking move as it continues to prioritise sustainability and shift the paradigm in the sports industry.
The second race in the 2023 CORE Diriyah E-Prix double-header is tonight.
Pascal Wehrlein, No. 94, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team, said: “It feels incredible. I am so proud of these guys, unbelievable – what a car I had today. I mean from P9 to P1, amazing, I am so grateful to have this team. It has been a lot of work. We always wanted to achieve these kind of results, we had some highlights in the past but definitely this year we wanted to do a big step forward. I know how hard these guys are working, I am also quite often with them and pushing with everyone, especially after the testing in Valencia we were not looking that strong so I know how many hours everyone has put in. To start this well in the season in the first and second race is amazing, like I said I am just thankful for everyone and their hard work – we keep pushing.”
Jake Dennis, No. 27, Avalanche Andretti Formula E, said: “I wasn’t at all [expecting to be on the podium]. I thought it was going to be quite difficult to overtake here with the mountain section being so fast, but my god the race car we have is just unbelievable. For me and Pascal to get another 1-2 from ninth and eleventh is testament to how much effort has gone in. Full credit to Avalanche Andretti for giving me the best race car today. We closed in on Pascal at the end, I was pushing to get the move done but when you’re racing a guy with the same car it is difficult to pass. But I am so happy and we deserve this after a difficult qualifying. I had to stop him getting an eight-second lead, but yeah super pleased for everyone and another 1-2. I need to try and beat him tomorrow and beat everyone else, but nonetheless I can sleep well tonight.”
Sam Bird, No. 10, Jaguar TCS Racing, said: “It feels so good to be back on the podium, I can’t tell you. It has been a rough twelve months, but Jaguar have been amazing – they have stuck by me, put their arm around me and also recently we had a very difficult Mexico to open the season. The amount of work, the amount of sleepless nights everyone in the team has had in order to get us to this point, this is a little mini victory for us. I get that Porsche will be taking the spoils – but for us and where we have come from, amazing. Congrats to everyone in the team – we keep pushing. I tried to place my car to make it difficult for Pascal, I know the grip out there is tricky, but he did a superb job. The Porsche is looking extremely decent on change of direction and minimum speed, so we have got a bit of homework to do tonight.”
