More precious points for DS Automobiles in Diriyah 27.01.2023: • In his 100th start, Jean-Éric Vergne scores his first points of the new ABB FIA Formula E World Championship season • From 12th and 17th on the grid, JEV and Stoffel Vandoorne execute brilliant recovery to 7th and 11th by the chequered flag

 
•    In his 100th start, Jean-Éric Vergne scores his first points of the new ABB FIA Formula E World Championship season


•    From 12th and 17th on the grid, JEV and Stoffel Vandoorne execute brilliant recovery to 7th and 11th by the chequered flag


•    The second race of the Diriyah E-Prix will take place on Saturday
 



Round two of Season 9 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, presented DS Automobiles drivers Stoffel Vandoorne and Jean-Éric Vergne with another opportunity to showcase the performance of the DS E-TENSE FE23.



However, as was the case in the opening round in Mexico City a fortnight ago, the pair were unable to replicate strong pace from free practice into qualifying, managing 12th and 17th on the grid. Ahead of the 39-lap night race, both drivers knew they would have to fight through the field if they were to score points.



As hoped, the reliability and efficiency of the electric single seaters developed by DS Performance, in collaboration with DS PENSKE, paved the way for Vergne and Vandoorne to mount superb recovery drives through the field. Vergne, celebrating his 100th race start in the all-electric category, gained five positions en route to a well-deserved seventh place finish and scoring his first points of the 2023 season.


Reigning world champion Vandoorne produced a similarly impressive charge from 17th, moving up six places but finished agonisingly just outside the points in 11th.



Although the latest generation of Formula E car – GEN3 – is in its maiden season this year, DS Automobiles and the rest of the DS PENSKE team understand that stronger qualifying performance remains the key to returning to the podium places. This will undoubtedly be the objective on Saturday, during the second race of the Diriyah double-header, which is scheduled to begin just after 18:00 CET.
 



Eugenio Franzetti, Director of DS Performance:


“The race was very busy, and our drivers produced a really good recovery! JEV managed to pick up five places in his 100th race in Formula E and finished seventh, scoring precious points for DS PENSKE.


And thanks to the performance of his DS E-TENSE FE23, Stoffel gained six places. We know that we need to improve our qualifying, but these results serve as good motivation for tomorrow.”
 



Jean-Éric Vergne, 2018 and 2019 Formula E champion


“It was a clean race; I gained some positions and opened my points account for the year. The strategy was good, but we just lacked a little bit of pace in the race, and especially in qualifying which is the real issue here.


We need to try and understand the issues that we have in qualifying so that we can start higher up the grid, because starting where we are, we have no chance. So, all the focus is on tomorrow’s qualifying to try and make the car better.”
 



Stoffel Vandoorne, reigning Formula E champion:


“Obviously we didn’t have the qualifying that we had in mind. Clearly, we haven’t yet understood what is causing us to drop so much pace between the free practice sessions and qualifying, because in free practice we have been very competitive and then for some reason we can’t seem to gain any time.


And that puts us out of position for the race. The race was OK today, I stayed out of trouble and didn’t quite make it into the points, but we have another opportunity tomorrow and we have to try and do better, definitely qualify higher on the grid in order to have a better result.”
 



Key figures since DS Automobiles entered Formula E:


•    90 races
•    4 championship titles
•    15 victories
•    44 podiums
•    21 pole positions
 



Nathalie Dumas , Benjamin Maigre- photo DS