We wrapped up round 5 this weekend with Race 2 in Jeddah. After Mortara’s performance and strong pace in qualifying, he started the grid in pole position, with Dennis and Da Costa in P2 and P3, respectively.
Bold Starts & A Grid Penalty
As the saying goes for Formula E, if qualifying is exciting, the race is certain to be chaotic, as seen in the start of the race. De Vries, following some changes to his car, had a grid penalty and stop-and-go penalty, essentially securing this race as one he would struggle to secure any points in. The race start saw Mortara keep the lead while Dennis and Da Costa began battling. Rowland snuck his way through to take the lead with some close calls.
With the top four racing side by side through the corners and exchanging places, the race was full of battles and near misses. Seeing his opportunity, Ticktum lunged at Vergne to gain the lead for p6. It was a hard fight for P3, with Dennis, Da Costa, and Buemi almost switching places every turn.
Contact Chaos & Damages Wings
Ticktum passed Dennis for P5 and was looking really strong this race. As he sat in P8, Maloney made contact with Marti, who struck the curb and launched into his back, damaging his rear wing and leaving it hanging dangerously. Contact with Maloney raised a black and white flag for Marti. Evans went into attack mode on lap 16 as Maloney’s cracked rear wing flew off, nearly hitting Cassidy.
A puncture from his contact with Maloney had sent Dennis into the runoff, and following a brief pit stop, he dropped to P19. With Ticktum seated ahead of Buemi in P3, Da Costa finished his attack on Rowland to take the lead. Ticktum grabbed P2 for a moment while he had 10 seconds left in his attack mode.
Battling to the Lead
Rowland and Mortara made minor contact as they ran side by side, but Mortara had to use the run-off to get back into the race and pass Rowland. To save energy and stay out of danger, Buemi sat behind Ticktum as Rowland passed Mortara after another switchback. Da Costa, meanwhile, was comfortably ahead by three seconds, though even that was closing as more drivers switched to attack mode. Cassidy was able to pass Drugovich and Nato for P15 in the middle of the pack.
As Ticktum attempted to stave off Beumi, his attack mode expired, ensuring Rowland gained the upper hand. Rowland, Buemi, Mortara, and Ticktum trailed Da Costa, who kept the lead with a considerably narrower margin.
A Teammate Collision & A Victory for Jaguar
Evans lost some of his front wing in an instant, presumably due to contact with another driver. While anticipating a strong p5-6 finish, the Curpa Kiro team saw Marti collide with Ticktum. They switched places; however, they stayed in positions P5 and P6.
Da Costa wins his first race with Jaguar, while Buemi finishes in second place and Rowland in third, despite the drama surrounding the Cupra Kiro drivers’ incident. Another race weekend wrapped up with excitement, chaos, and some interesting team debriefs to be had, join us again for round 6 in Madrid.