Jake Dennis celebrates second win of the season for BMW i Andretti Motorsport in London.

London. After a tactically astute and commanding driving
performance in his home race in London (GBR), Jake Dennis (GBR) has
celebrated his second win in the ABB FIA Formula E World
Championship for BMW i Andretti Motorsport. The British driver
started the London E-Prix from second on the grid in the #27 BMW
iFE.21. He moved ahead in the opening third of the race, pulled away
from his rivals before using the second attack mode and never looked
likely to surrender the lead. Having already tasted victory at
Valencia (ESP), this is the second time that Dennis has topped the
podium in his Formula E debut season. His team-mate Maximilian
Günther (GER) crossed the finish line in 20th place.

 

Dennis had already given an impressive performance in the morning’s
free practice session, recording the second-fastest time behind
Günther in difficult and rainy conditions. One feature of the track
layout in particular made the session a challenging one. As one
section of the 2.252-kilometre circuit runs through the surroundings
of ExCel London and another section is located inside the halls
themselves, the drivers struggled with aquaplaning on the wet outdoor
surface, while the track inside the exhibition centre was bone dry.

 

The course gradually dried out as the qualifying session progressed.
Both BMW i Andretti Motorsport drivers were chasing the best time in
group three. Günther’s session ended early after he slammed into a
wall when braking into a corner. Dennis was right behind him and was
forced to abort his fast lap. When qualifying restarted, the British
driver was able to try again. He managed to reach the Super Pole
competition, where he secured second place on the grid that proved to
be the perfect starting point for his victorious drive.

 

This victory sees Dennis move up to third place in the drivers’
standings. He has now scored 79 points and is just two points off the
lead. Günther is in 15th place with 54 points. BMW i Andretti
Motorsport is sixth in the team standings, with 133 points.

 

Race 13 of the season will take place on Sunday in London as well. It
starts at 15:00 CEST (14:00 local time).

 

Reactions to Race 12 in London.

 

Roger Griffiths (BMW i Andretti Motorsport Team Principal,
team standings: 6th place):

“From Jake’s point of view, it was a strong qualifying session that
put him on the front row. After a sensible start from him, he settled
into a good rhythm and then we experienced some smart driving from him
and some smart strategy calls from the engineering team. We saw the
result with Jake on the podium and massive rewards towards his
championship position. On Maximilian’s side of the garage it was a
different story. What was looking like a good qualifying lap really
came to nothing with the impact into the wall. It took a big team
effort to get the car rebuilt in time for the race. Both car crews got
together and worked well. That shows the strength of the team.
Unfortunately with Maximilian starting from the back, it meant it was
going to be hard work all afternoon. He made up some positions, but
after another contact he slipped back to P20. I am looking forward to
tomorrow. Let’s see what we can do again here in London.”

 

Jake Dennis (#27 BMW iFE.21, starting position: 2nd
place, race result: 1st place, points: 79, driver
standings: 3rd place):

“I am super happy. I pretty much didn’t know what to expect going
into the race. It was a little bit different to normal, with really
not much energy-saving going on. It was obviously an intense battle
with Alex Lynn; I was trying to put him under pressure. We took the
risk to stay up in front when he took his second attack mode. I knew I
could keep him behind, but I didn’t know if it would work out better
or not. Luckily he made a small mistake and then it was about three
qualifying laps to pull the two-second gap before I went for my second
attack mode. Then it was just a matter of bringing it home when we got
the lead. We had really severe vibrations on the right rear. It was
probably in the last 15 laps of the race. I was generally not taking
any kerb just to make sure to bring it home. Now being third in the
championship is far more than I expected at the beginning of the season.”

 

Maximilian Günther (#28 BMW iFE.21, starting position:
24th place, race result: 20th place, points:
54, driver standings: 15th place):

“Congratulations to the entire team. Unfortunately, I could not see
what was going on ahead in the race from where I was, but of course,
that was a great job by Jake. He was great in qualifying and drove a
superb race. During practice, I felt good in the car. It was the same
in qualifying too but then I unfortunately had that crash. That was
the end of our chances for today. That is hard to take but it is also
part of the business. In the race, I did all I could to get the most
out of it but I was a long way from the points. Tomorrow is a brand
new day and that is what we are concentrating on now.”

 

The FANBOOST vote.

FANBOOST gives Formula E fans the opportunity to vote for their
favourite driver and award them an extra boost of power during the
race. The five drivers with the most FANBOOST votes receive an extra
100 kJ of power, which they can make use of during a brief time frame
in the second half of the race. Fans can vote for their favourite
driver in the four days prior to, and leading up to 15 minutes into,
each race. Each fan can vote once per day. There are two ways to vote:
Online at https://fanboost.fiaformulae.com/
or via the official Formula E App.

 

The BMW Group Safety Cars.

The BMW Group has been represented in the ABB FIA Formula E
World Championship as ‘Official Vehicle Partner’ since the very
beginning and will continue to provide the fleet of safety cars for
season 7 of the fully-electric racing series. Alongside the BMW i8
Roadster Safety Car (fuel consumption (combined): 2.0 l /100 km;
energy use (combined): 14.5 kWh /100 km; combined CO2 emissions: 46
g/km)*, which has been modified specially for racing use, the MINI
Electric Pacesetter inspired by JCW will be appearing as a new safety
car from the Rome E-Prix onwards. The development of the car based on
the new MINI Cooper SE represents a hitherto unique collaboration
between MINI Design, BMW Motorsport, the FIA and Formula E. The fleet
also includes the BMW i3s (Power consumption in kWh/100: 14.6-14.0
(NEDC); 16.6-16.3 (WLTP), electric range in km: 278-283 (WLTP))* as
‘Race Director Car’ and the BMW iX3 (Power consumption in kWh/100:
17.8-17.5 (NEDC); 19.0-18.6 (WLTP), electric range in km: 450-458
(WLTP))* in its roles as ‘Medical Car’ and ‘Rescue Car’.