Cape Town, South Africa, February 25 – Antonio Felix da Costa won the first time ABB FIA Formula E World Championship raced in Cape Town to claim his first win for the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team thanks to overtaking maneuvers executed not once but twice to take the lead.
The Season 6 Champion returned to form in his previous race at Hyderabad by finishing third. But on the new track that saw Nissan’s Sacha Fenestraz Julius Baer claims pole position with the fastest lap in Formula E history at average speed 154.987 km/h, Da Costa’s crushing drive resulted in a well-deserved win.
Antonio Felix da Costa, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team, 1st place
The Porsche driver started 11th but worked his way through the top 10 and into the top three on Lap 20. With the package squeezed out by Full Course Yellow on Lap 21, the top four split in just 1.5 seconds. Imagine Racing Nick Cassidy have beaten Sacha Fenestraz and Maximilian Gunther (Maserati MSG Racing) went through the first round of ATTACK MODE activation, running longer before opting for its initial 50kW boost and taking the lead.
Antonio Felix da Costa, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team, 1st place
Da Costa’s move for P1 is one of the best motorsport fans have ever seen. On Lap 24, his superb pass to steal the lead from Cassidy on the most difficult section of the track – a tricky combination at Turns 7, 8 and 9 which had been the site of three crashes earlier in the weekend – the Season 6 champion went outside of Turn 7 and held his position on the inside at Turn 8.
Antonio Felix da Costa, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team, 1st Place; Jean-Eric Vergne, DS Thought, 2nd; Nick Cassidy, Vision Racing, 3rd
The Portuguese pulled enough of the gap to take his second mandatory ATTACK MODE and reclaim the lead but he missed the activation round – handing the lead to the winner of Hyderabad Jean-Eric Vergne (above, left) one lap later. The French had never been on a winning streak until recently.
ABB FIA Formula E World Championship
Maximilian Gunther, Maserati MSG Racing, Maserati Tipo Folgore lead the way
His former team-mate then struggled to fly the flag – Vergne has taken just one of his 11 wins to date by more than two seconds – and is fresh from a classic defensive push to win in Hyderabad. The gap is half a second with a full 30 laps and only two extra laps for time lost on warnings.
Sacha Fenestraz, Nissan Formula E Team, Nissan e-4ORCE 04 took the lead at the start
On Lap 21, Da Costa then attempted the same overtaking maneuver once again, this time at Vergne – one of the toughest competitors on the track. As before, there was no room to breathe but Da Costa once again came out of Turn 7 to 8 and 9 and into a memorable race win under heavy pressure from JEV.
Maximilian Gunther, Maserati MSG Racing, Maserati Tipo Folgore leading Sacha Fenestraz, Nissan Formula E Team, Nissan e-4ORCE 04
Meanwhile, Fenestraz managed to pass Cassidy for a potential podium finish but sadly, the Nissan driver hit a wall on the final lap to crash out of the race. So close, yet so far for the rookie after an impressive weekend of racing. Cassidy gratefully accepted the silver gift.
Rene Rast (McLarenne NEOM Formula E Team) cruised into fourth after moving up six places, provisionally Sebastien Buemi (Envision Racing) took the flag in fifth. And Ticktum ensured NIO 333 Racing would score strong again with a sixth-place finish – two top six spots in a row for the Anglo-Chinese outfit that started GEN3 well.
Jake Hughes, NEOM McLaren Formula E Team, e-4ORCE 04
Defending champion Stoffel Vandoorne settled for seventh while his teammate climbed onto the podium. Norman NATO (Nissan), André Lotterer (TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team) and Jake Hughes (above, McLaren NEOM Formula E Team) rounds out the top 10 and points.
Pascal Wehrlein, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3 drop out of the race
standings leader Pascal Wehrlein (above) at sister Porsche ran clean to back of Buemi’s Envision Racing car (below) on Lap 1 resulting in retirement in the Round 5 race of the 16 race season of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.
The bad luck of the Jaguar TCS Racing team will not let up. Sam Bird’s the damaged car is not fit to start after the qualifying shunt, then Mitch Evans was slapped with a drive-through penalty for an overpower violation, dropping him from a strong fourth place at the time, early in the race.
Jake Hughes, NEOM McLaren Formula E Team, e-4ORCE 04
Andretti Avalanche Jaka Dennis had worked his way up to ninth, seeking to capitalize on the retirement of championship leader Wehrlein, to the point of receiving a drive-through penalty for under-stressed tyres.
Mitch Evans, Jaguar TCS Racing, Jaguar I-TYPE 6, lead Maximilian Gunther, Maserati MSG Racing, Maserati Tipo Folgore
Despite his retirement, Wehrlein still leads the World Drivers’ Championship with 80 points to Jake Dennis’ 62. Vergne jumps to 50 points in third with da Costa now in fourth with 46. Porsche Envision Racing heads 126 points to 84 in Team running.
Sacha Fenestraz, Nissan Formula E Team
in the pitlane
International icons of South African sport and music at the games included the current captain of the national rugby team He’s Kolisi; DJ, producer and songwriter Black coffee; former Springbok captain and 1995 Rugby World Cup winner François Pienaar; former Proteas cricket captain Graeme Smith; DHL Stormers player included Damian Willemse, Evan Rose And Seabelo Senatla and South African influencers Sara And Emma Walsh.
South African officials attending the race included the Mayor of Cape Town Geordin Hill-Lewis and the Prime Minister of the Western Cape Alan Winde.
Chapter 6 The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship is Julius Baer 2023 São Paulo E-Prix on Saturday, March 25ththe first time Formula E was contested Brazil.
