JAKARTA E-PRIX: THE TWO DS AUTOMOBILES DRIVERS AT THE FRONT!

JAKARTA E-PRIX: THE TWO DS AUTOMOBILES DRIVERS AT THE FRONT!

Reigning world champion Vandoorne confirmed his return to the front of the grid in the sweltering heat of Indonesia. The Belgian driver qualified fifth and moved up to fourth at the end of the 36-lap encounter, marking his best result in the black and gold colours of DS Automobiles and a valuable confidence boost.

championship points with a top five finish, moving the only double champion in the electric category back into fourth in the drivers’ standings, reducing the deficit to the top of the table to 31 points. With 25 points available for a race win, anything is still possible in the final six rounds of Season 9 in the title race. As for the DS PENSKE team, the double points finish enabled it to return to the top three in the Teams’ standings, lying joint fourth. The French manufacturer and its partner PENSKE AUTOSPORT are now just 19 points behind the leaders. Following a successful Saturday on the streets of Jakarta, attention for DS Automobiles now switches to Race 2 on Sunday. Having finished just shy of the podium, a top three result would be the perfect way to mark the French brand’s 100th start in Formula E. Eugenio Franzetti, DS Performance director: “It was a good race for the team today. We had a good qualifying session and then drove an intelligent race. We gained some precious championship points. After this first race in Jakarta, we gained a position in the drivers’ standings with JEV now 4th, but also in the Teams’ standings where we are tied 4th. Tomorrow, we set off again for race 11, conscious of the great potential of our DS E-TENSE FE23 and with the desire to do something special on the day of our 100th race!” Jean-Eric Vergne, 2018 and 2019 Formula E champion : “We had a pretty positive day. Even though I lost a position at the start by starting from the dirty side of the track, finishing 5th is a good result. I couldn’t have done better. The conditions were difficult: there wasn’t much grip and keeping the car on track was not easy. But in the end, we scored some big points for the team, and we’re climbing the rankings.” Stoffel Vandoorne, reigning Formula E champion: “Finishing 4th is probably the best result we could have achieved today. With JEV in 5th place, we can be satisfied with the day, as we scored some precious points for the championship! Another positive point to remember, was qualifying. It’s a real challenge to perform on this circuit, but we managed to get a good position on the grid! In the race, we confirmed our good start to the weekend by getting both cars back into the Top 5. Today, I didn’t have enough pace to finish on the podium, but I hope we can do better on Sunday!”