VALENCIA E-PRIX – JAKE DENNIS WIN RACE 2

Valencia E-prix Race 2 – Jake Dennis blitzes it, the BMW i Andretti Motorsport rookie taking a lights-to-flag debut victory in only his sixth Formula E race.

Formula E rookie Jake Dennis pulled off a masterful drive to take BMW to victory in the second Valencia race.

RACE RESULTS

As expected, FE’s first dry race on a permanent racetrack was all about energy saving and the field settled into a long, cagey train of slipstreaming cars early on.

But contrary to expectations, leading the race throughout didn’t doom Dennis.

He managed to conserve enough useable energy despite everyone else benefiting from his slipstream to hold his own at the front right through to the flag.

Dennis did have a little bit of external help, though. Mahindra driver Alex Lynn had been his main pursuer for the first two thirds of the race but then a tap from Norman Nato’s Venturi Mercedes at the tight Turn 9 on the cut-through used to shorten the circuit sent Lynn sideways and through the gravel.

Suddenly Dennis found himself 2s clear of the pack just when he was able to start raising his pace. Though the pack closed back in, Dennis managed things perfectly to allow himself a flat-out last lap and secure a shock victory.

Nato was given a 5s penalty for hitting Lynn, dropping him from second to fifth on the road.

Andre Lotterer finally got off the mark after an awful start to the season by inheriting second for Porsche, with Lynn making it back through to third once Nato’s penalty took effect.

Oliver Rowland moved up to fourth for Nissan. Rene Rast had charged into that spot from 14th on the grid but used a lot of energy to do so and fell back to sixth at the flag.

After their weather-assisted strong qualifying positions, the NIO333s couldn’t stay up front all race but Oliver Turvey did well to hang on to eighth behind Jean-Eric Vergne’s DS Techeetah. Turvey’s team-mate Tom Blomqvist tumbled to 17th.

Edoardo Mortara and Lucas di Grassi completed the scorers.

The championship frontrunners left in the midfield by the weather in qualifying couldn’t get into the points. But Mercedes’ Nyck de Vries still leads the standings despite finishing only 16th as none of his main rivals fared much better.

He followed Jaguar’s title chasers Sam Bird and Mitch Evans home.

Reigning champion Antonio Felix da Costa had to take a drivethrough penalty for improper use of the attack mode activation zone, dumping him to 22nd.

Mercedes driver Stoffel Vandoorne made some of the best progress of the championship contenders at first, but sustained broken suspension in a clash with Sebastien Buemi.

VALENCIA E-PRIX – JAKE DENNIS WIN RACE 2 VALENCIA E-PRIX – JAKE DENNIS WIN RACE 2

HIGHLIGHTS EPRIX 1 – DE VRIES WINS WET VALENCIA

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