Jordan's Track Talk

Tag: Jake Dennis

  • RND 2 – Diriyah E-Prix

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    Nissan’s Oliver Rowland went quickest in the Diriyan desert, as the grid prepared to take on the first double header of the season.

    Track evolution meant that the times kept tumbling, although the session was brought to a brief halt as the Envision Racing car of Sebastien Buemi stopped on track.

    Jean Eric-Vergne for DS PENSKE finished the session in second 0.165s behind Rowland, with his teammate Stoffel Vandoorne popping into third.

    The Envision Racing duo of Sebastien Buemi and Robin Frijns were the first to set the lap times, but quickly the rest of the grid followed. Reigning champion, Jake Dennis was the last to get a time in, but it didn’t impact his session as he finished in the top five.

    Just over halfway through the session, double yellow flags were waved as Buemi came to a stop on the circuit between Turns 3 and 4. He made his way back to the garage, but his car was in a red condition which meant extra precautions had to be taken to remove it from the track.
    As a result of the delay, the session was extended by 12 minutes by the FIA to make sure the drivers got as many laps on the board as possible.

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    Andretti’s Norman Nato topped the timesheets in the second Free Practice session, as the drivers took to the epic Diriyah track in the midday sun.
    His teammate, Jake Dennis finished third, with Maserati MSG Racing’s Maximilian Guenther sandwiched between the two in second.

    Teams and drivers headed out in the midday sun to get as much track time and data as they could. Track evolution continues to be rapid here, as the dirt and dust from the desert is kicked up by the grid as they fly around this 2.49km circuit.

    Jake Dennis topped the timesheets with a 1m15.067s as he set the three fastest sectors with 18 minutes to go, and continued to keep locking in faster laps over the session.

    Both Mahindras were looking rapid, with Edoardo Mortara and Nyck de Vries going first and second with 13 minutes left on the clock. De Vries has won here twice before and Mortara has had some amazing overtakes.

    Qualifying-

    DS PENSKE’s Jean Eric-Vergne sealed Julius Baer Pole Position and jumped up to the top of the Drivers’ standings.

    Vergne went up against the Jaguar TCS Racing of Mitch Evans as both drivers and teams were fighting for their first pole at this circuit.

    Group A, was packed with lots of familiar favourites. However it was Cassidy, Dennis, Wehrlein and Evans who made it through. Last year’s polesitter Jake Hughes looked an early favourite, as he pushed his McLaren to the limit and even clipped the wall slightly to get himself half a second clear.
    However, a second attempt at a fast lap led to Hughes making a mistake and not doing enough to improve on his time to finish fifth in the group.

    Group B, the next group took to track shortly after, with plenty of big names trying to make it through to the Duels.

    In the end it was Vergne who went to the top when the chequered flag fell with a 1m 12.856s. Joining him in the Semi’s was Sette Camara who got ERT’s first Duels appearance of the year, Guenther in third and Nato in fourth.

    The biggest shock of the Group Stages were Antonio Felix da Costa as he finished Group B in ninth. The season 6 champion hasn’t looked completely comfortable in his Porsche so far this weekend, so will hope he can make up some good positions.

    The full top 10 from qualifying are- P1: Vergne, P2: Evans, P3: Dennis, P4: Sette Camara, P5: Nato, P6: Wehrlein, P7: Cassidy, P8: Guenther, P9: Bird and P10: Hughes.

    Round 2-

    Reigning champion, Jake Dennis bounced back from disappointment in the Mexico City season-opener to win by more than 13 seconds in the first round of the Diriyah double-header!

    Polesitter, Jean Eric Vergne had bolted off the line to hold an early lead and was forced into fending off the Jaguar TCS Racing pair of Mitch Ecans and Nick Cassidy as the race reached its climax.

    A last lap lunge from Evans, running third at the time but with second in his sight, cost the Kiwi a podium as he overcooked the stop into Turn 18, handing third to his teammate Cassidy.
    Cassidy, took his own direction on strategy of the leaders, opting to take his two mandatory Attack Mode boosts late on as he clambered through from seventh on the grid at the start.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Dennis, P2: Vergne, P3: Cassidy, P4: Bird, P5: Evans, P6: Nato, P7: Guenther, P8: Wehrlein, P9: Sette Camara and P10: Frijns.

  • Jake Dennis signs Multi-Year extension with Andretti

    Reigning ABB FIA Formula E World Champion Jake Dennis has secured a multi-year contract extension to continue racing for Andretti Formula E through Season 11 and beyond.

    Back for his fourth season in Formula E, Dennis will be the driver with the target on his back in Season 10 and the #1 on his Andretti after a record-breaking year that saw the British Driver score two wins, 11 podiums and two Julius Baer Pole Positions on his way to being number 1.

    Dennis first made his debut in Formula E with Andretti in 2021, ahead of Season 7, quickly showcasing his skills with two victories and challenging for the title in what was one of the most successful rookie seasons to date.

    In addition to his Formula E success, Dennis serves as a development driver for the Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team and is also a BMW Factory driver.

    I began my Formula E journey with Andretti, and I’m excited to continue working with the team that has supported my career in this series. I’ve got immense respect for this team, and it will be an honour to continue as a driver for Andretti Global. The GEN3 era is an exciting time for us with the relationship with Porsche supplying the powertrain, which I won the championship with last season. I’m super motivated for next year and feel certain that with the dedication, teamwork and investment I’ve seen over the past three years in the team that we’ll be able to fight for more wins and success in the future.

    Dennis on the news.

    Jake has played a pivotal role in our Formula E team’s recent success. Securing Jake’s commitment underlines our shared vision for consistently competing for victories and championships, and we are confident that this extension will further strengthen our position on the global stage. We look forward to breaking more records and achieving new milestones together in the seasons ahead.

    Andretti Global CEO and Chairman, Michael Andretti.

    We are super excited to be able to announce the multi-year extension of Jake’s contract. Jake has been an integral part of the Andretti Formula E team for three seasons now and has proven time after time that he is one of the most competitive and talented drivers on the Formula E grid. His dedication, commitment and focus has been one of the key components contributing to the ongoing success of our Formula E program and we are all excited for what’s to come in the seasons ahead!

    Roger Griffiths, Team Principal.

  • Round 15 – London E-Prix

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    The Formula E grid got their first taste of the indoor-outdoor London circuit in Gen3 as free practice got underway.

    Nissan’s Norman Nato set the quickest time with a 1m 10.765s in the first practice session of the season finale weekend in London. His teammate, Sacha Fenestraz joined him in the top three. Sandwiched between the two Nissans was Season 2 champion Sebastien Buemi and just 0.006s of the top spot.

    Teams were getting to grips with the newly-modified circuit, pushing their cars to the limits early on. Jake Hughes and Maximilian Guenther both explored the track limits with both of them going down the escape road at the chicane.

    The Envision Racing and Jaguar TCS Racing cars are expected to be strong this weekend and started well with Sebastien Buemi topping the timesheets for most of the first 15 minutes. Soon enough his teammate Nick Cassidy went faster.

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    Envision Racing’s Nick Cassidy let his championship rivals know he means business, as he set the fastest time in the final free practice session before the London E-Prix qualifying.

    The Kiwi went over three tenths quicker than the next guy, NIO 333’s Dan Ticktum. All four championship contenders, Cassidy, Dennis, Evans and Wehrlein all finished in the top six.

    Typical British weather came and heavy rain made for a wet track for Free Practice 2. Even though we have had wet conditions in Gen3 before, with the ABT Cupra’s putting on a masterclass in Berlin. The London circuit is half indoor-outdoor design means drivers won’t have the same consistency throughout a lap which proves a challenge.

    Robin Frijns had a little moment, going down the run off at the chicane – something we have seen several times over the weekend so far. However, this unfortunately wasn’t his only off, as he brought out a red flag with a minute left on the clock.
    The Dutchman lost his car at the hairpin, clipping the wall and ending up in the barrier, also preventing any final flying laps from others on the grid.

    Two-time champ, Jean-Eric Vergen also ran off at Turn 1 during the session, but he managed to master a quick turn around to join the track without any issues.

    Qualifying-

    Mitch Evans and Jaguar TCS Racing sealed Julius Baer Pole Position in London in a square fight against title rival Nick Cassidy in a nail-biting Duels Final.
    But Cassidy will take to P1 on the gird after Evans was served with a five place grid penalty for a collision in Rome.

    Both drivers in the final, were pushing to the limit so much so Cassidy appeared to kiss the wall on his lap.
    Lining up alongside Cassidy will be Dennis, a copy of the Rome grid but in the opposite order.

    The Envision duo of Cassidy and Buemi, the first time that both Envision’s have reached the Semis in the same race this year. Nick was sent through as his teammate made a crucial mistake.

    There was a dramatic moment when championship leader, Dennis complained of a “huge power cut at Turn 9” whilst getting some laps in, in addition to mentioning that he’d hit the wall on a different lap.

    Recent podium finisher in Rome, Norman Nato suffered a massive lock up on one of his laps and then went down on a run off.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Evans, P2: Cassidy P3: Dennis, P4: Buemi, P5: Ticktum, P6: Rast P7: Wehrlein, P8: Vandoorne, P9: Bird and P10: Nato.

    Round 15-

    Jake Dennis navigated a crazy Hankook London E-Prix to come home second; enough to make sure of a sealing the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Drivers’ Championship, as Mitch Evans took the chequered flag first.

    Dennis survived two missed trips through the Attack Mode loop, heavy pressure from his closest rival and polesitter Nick Cassidy as well as two red flags to become Formula E’s first British World Champion and the first to take it on home soil.

    Cassidy led the early stages before ceding top spot to eventual winner and countryman Evans on lap 11 and second spot to teammate Sebasiten Buemi.
    Dennis had made it by Cassidy with an opportunistic move at the final corner just a couple of laps before, with Cassidy immediately fighting his way back by the Andretti car.

    However, with Cassidy running in formation, close behind the Swiss, the Envision drivers came into contact.
    Loose bodywork from that clash caused a brief spell under the Safety Car bunching the pack up. Dennis meanwhile was not impressed over the radio with Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein the German hanging onto fourth.

    Wehrlein’s challenge then also fell by the wayside in a shunt just before a red flag was flown for the recovery of Sacha Fenestraz’s Nissan. He and Jake Hughes tangled into Turn 1.

    On the restart Evans led away, with Dennis working his way into third – enough to seal the title as it stood. An over-optimistic move from Norman Nato at the penultimate turn on Lap 34 caused a chain reaction behind with several cars unable to avoid the mess enforcing another spell under the red flag conditions.

    It was a three lap sprint to the flag at the restart with Dennis having only to hold fast to ensure he’d take top honours.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Evans, P2: Dennis, P3: Buemi, P4: Bird, P5: Mortara, P6: Di Grassi, P7: Ticktum, P8: Nato, P9: Wehrlein and P10: Hughes.

  • Round 14 – Rome E-Prix

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    Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans continued his Rome dominance, as he topped the timesheets in the final Free Practice session of the Rome double header.

    Saturday’s winner, who achieved his third consecutive victory in the Italian capital, set a time of 1m37.561s. Envision’s Sebastien Buemi, who had to have his car rebuilt after a big crash in Round 13, slotted into second. Joining him in the top tree was Maximilian Guenther who set a completely identical time to Buemi.

    Nissan’s Sacha Fenestraz, wasn’t able to take part in FP3, being forced to watch from the sidelines, reportedly he had a battery problem.

    Maserati’s Maximilian Guenther had a small impact with the wall at Turn 7, going into the barriers after bailing the corner.
    Minutes later, Roberto Merhi (Mahindra Racing) narrowly avoided a big shunt, as he had a very close call with the wall at Turn 13/14.

    Qualifying-

    Avalanche Andretti’s Jake Dennis kept his cool in the scorching Rome heat to start the Hankook Rome E-Prix from the Julius Baer Pole Position. It’s his second pole of the season and has helped him clinch an extra three points to close up the gap to Championship leader, Nick Cassidy to just two points.

    Cassidy will start on the front row of the grid alongside the driver closest to him in the standings Dennis, with championship contender Mitch Evans starting in fourth.

    Dennis has never finished lower than second when starting from his previous four pole positions. Round 14 will be crucial in the title battle and it’s set up perfectly.

    In the Semi’s it was a Kiwi showdown, as Round 13 winner Mitch Evans took on Cassidy. Both cars are equipped with Jaguar powertrains, it was Cassidy who made it through and guaranteed himself a spot on the front row.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Dennis, P2: Cassidy, P3: Nato, P4: Evans, P5: Bird, P6: Guenther, P7: Ticktum, P8: Buemi, P9: Mortara and P10: Da Costa.

    Round 14-

    Jake Dennis took full advantage of his rival’s misfortune to hammer his authority home on the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Drivers’ Championship with a stunning first Grand Slam of the Gen3 era.

    Dennis led away from pole and just about kept himself out of the absolute disaster that struck his closest title rivals Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans behind on just the second lap of the race.

    As the former took a look at Dennis for the lead into the braking zone at Turn 7, Evans lost the rear of his Jaguar in the compression, clipped the leader’s Andretti and spectacularly launched over the top of Cassidy’s Envision.
    Dennis took full advantage of Evans’ damage proved terminal while Cassidy could only recover to 14th come the end of the race.

    The result means Dennis takes a 24-point advantage over Cassidy into the season finale double-header in London – home soil and a circuit he’s strong at as a two-time winner.
    Evans is 44 points back in third, while TAG Heuer Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein retains a slim mathematical hope, 49 points shy of top spot with 58 points available.

    Joining Dennis in the top three were Norman Nato in P2, who managed to hold off Sam Bird for the duration despite suffering early damage to his front wing in P3.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Dennis, P2: Nato, P3: Bird, P4: Mortara, P5: Buemi, P6: Guenther, P7: Wehrlein, P8: Vandoorne, P9: Ticktum and P10: Muller.

  • Round 1- Mexico City E-Prix

    Round 1 is now complete, lets take a look at all the action from our first ever Gen3 race and first round of Season 9.

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    There was no hanging about in the first session of Mexico City E-Prix, as all 22 drivers got a chance to lock in laps in their all-new cars…

    With only pre-season testing under their belts the half an hour session, proved extremely valuable for the drivers. Teams will be keen to compare the data from the first practice session to pre-season testing in Valenica.

    Rast saved a big spin in the final moments of the session but was left with damage to his rear-left wheel and suspension. Several drivers, including reigning champion, Stoffel Vandoorne complained of issues with their rear axels locking at certain points around the 19 turn circuit.

    But it was Jean-Eric Vergne who topped the timesheets with a 1m 13.294s, with rookie Jake Hughes following him closely in 2nd and Sergio Sette Camara rounds out the top 3.

    FP2-

    The early morning session, brought a very cold track and air temperature at just six degrees celsius; which is highly unusual conditions for a Formula E race weekend, but it brought a new challenge for the Gen3 cars and Hankook tyres.

    The top 18 drivers were split by just a second, with only 0.865s diving Wherlein at the top of the timesheets and McLaren’s Rene Rast in 17th.

    As seen in FP1, drivers were still finding the limits of their new cars. A handful of drivers were still going straight on at Turn 1.

    But it was Pascal Wehrlein who took the top spot with a 1:13.496, JEV continues his run of good form as he finished second and then Sergio Sette Camara makes it two top 3 finishes as well as he rounded out the top 3.

    Qualifying-

    Mahindra Racing’s Lucas di Grassi strode to Julius Baer Pole Position for the Mexico City E-Prix taking advantage of Jake Dennis’ slip in the final.

    Both Di Grassi and Dennis were fighting hard to keep their cars in check over what set out looking like a scruffy final effort for both drivers. Ultimately, Dennis did fall foul, with a real deep dive into the hairpin at Turn 5 costing him.

    Rookie, Jake Hughes impressed once again with the NEOM McLaren driver winding up third on the grid after bypassing Dan Tickum in a sharp looking NIO 333 in the quarters, the latter lining up fifth. Fellow rookie, Sacha Fenestraz fired his Nissan into eighth after also making the duels.

    Neither DS Penske or Maserati could count a driver in the duels – massive turn around given their benchmark pace in testing. That meant reigning champion, Vandoorne would settle for 14th on the grid with it all to do.

    Round 1-

    Dennis soaked in the adulation of the Foro Sol and the packed grandstands watching on, with ultra-passionate Mexican fans here to be a part of the first race of Formula E’s latest generational leap.

    The Andretti driver made what would be the race-winning move on lap 12. From there, Dennis stretched his legs through three safety car periods, he was able to run away with lead – eventually heading home Wehrlein by a huge seven seconds. Wehrlein produced a storming driver, as last year’s winner pulled out an eventual 11 second margin on third place di Grassi.

    Robin Frijns was one driver who didn’t make it through the first few turns of the race which brought out an early safety car. As he went into the back of Norman Nato’s Nissan at Turn 9, with the ABT driver breaking his wrist.

    One lap after the restart, Sam Bird then grounded to a halt with another technical issue on the inside of Turn 2.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Dennis, P2: Wehrlein, P3: Di Grassi, P4: Lotterer, P5: Hughes, P6: Buemi, P7: Da Costa, P8: Evans, P9: Cassidy and P10: Vandoorne.

    We are back racing in just under two weeks for a double header of night races in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia on the 27th & 28th January.

  • Dennis sticks with Avalanche Andretti

    Jake Dennis will be continuing with Avalanche Andretti into Season 9 and beyond with the team announcing the Brit’s signed a new multi-year deal.

    Dennis has been a part of the Andretti stable since 2020, when he joined the fold having caught the eye amid serious competition during an intensive selection process over a number of test sessions.

    The Brit, was top rookie in his debut season, where he won two races and finished third in the Drivers’ World Championship – a technical issue in the final race putting paid to a real title tilt.

    Dennis won on home soil with a grand slam in London this season, as well as adding another couple of podiums in Diriyah and Seoul.

    I started my Formula E journey with Andretti and I’m excited to continue to work with the team that has continued to support my career in this series. Season 9 with the Gen3 era is an exciting time for all teams, and for us in particular with the new relationship with Porsche supplying the powertrain. I’m super motivated for next year and feel certain that with the dedication, teamwork, and investment I’ve seen over the past two years with Avalanche Andretti Formula E, we’ll be able to fight for wins and titles in the future.

    Jake Dennis on his new contract.

    Keeping Jake a part of Avalanche Andretti Formula E is a great step for our success as a team heading into Season 9. Jake has been a successful driver and leader over the past two years with our team, and we are looking forward to this continuing into Season 9 and beyond. This step is a continuation of building Avalanche Andretti towards consistency to achieve our main mission, to win.

    Team Boss, Michael Andretti.
  • Round 13- London E-Prix

    Round 13- London E-Prix

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    Sergio Sette Camara topped the timesheets in the opening session of this weekend’s SABIC London E-Prix, with the fastest time in Free Practice 1 ahead of Round 13.

    The Brazilian’s 1m14.487s was enough to pip top four title contender, Mitch Evans and Round 10 winner, Nick Cassidy. As Antonio Giovinazzi put on his best shwoing of the season in practice with the 4th quickest time, with reigning world champion Nyck de Vries in fifth.

    Jean-Eric Vergne had work to do as he sat in 17th, but practice isn’t always pace alone, especially this weekend as teams try and get to grips with the unique indoor/outdoor circuit at the ExCel, with plenty of elevation changes and varying surfaces to contend with.

    FP2-

    Brit, Jake Dennis headed the way in Free Practice 2 ahead of the SABIC London E-Prix Round 13, setting a 1m13.661s lap time to [i[ Oliver Rowland by 0.082 seconds with Andre Lotterer in third.

    Just 0.858 seconds split the top 20 runners in an ultra-close session, with Dennis a race winner here last season – able to squeak to the top of the pile. The first of the title contenders was Mitch Evans, the Kiwi posting the sixth quickest time of the morning. But standings leader, Stoffel Vandoorne was a couple of spots back in his Silver Arrow 02.

    A couple of drivers fell foul of the tricky track surface with Sam Bird pushing his luck on the way into the ExCeL and Lotterer pirouetting at the complex.

    Qualifying-

    Jake Dennis, starts on Julius Baer Pole Position on home turf at the SABIC London E-Prix Round 13, having produced the goods in some style in front of a vocal home support.

    Dennis was up on fellow finalist and standings leader Stoffel Vandoorne after the first couple of corners and had earlier flown to the fastest laps in each of the groups and knockout stages up to this point. By the middle of the lap, the Brit made big ground and had two tenths of a second on Vandoorne.

    Vandoorne still holds the cards in the title fight, though, with his nearest rival Edo Mortara down in ninth having failed to progress from the groups, Jean-Eric Verge 13th and Mitch Evans a spot behind in 14th.

    It’s amazing. That’s one of the best things about obviously racing In Formula E – if you do a good job, you can hear the crowd. I’ve had such a good day – first in practice, through to all the Qualifying Duels and then to go head to head with Stoffel in the end was tight. It was incredible and honestly, the cars been absolutely amazing today. We made a really good step forward from yesterday and to get the team that first pole this year is exceptional.

    Jake Dennis, on securing pole position.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Dennis, P2: Vandoorne, P3: De Vries, P4: Sette Camara, P5: Askew, P6: Gunther, P7: Cassidy, P8: Lotterer, P9: Mortara and P10: Frijns.

    Round 13-

    Jake Dennis, strode to a dominant lights-to-flag win in the London E-Prix for Round 13 to make it two wins in two years on home turf for the Brit at the ExCeL.

    Dennis was able to cover off the early advances of standings leader, Stoffel Vandoorne with the Mercedes-EQ driver content to play it cool to come home second for a 17th Formula E podium, with his closest championship rivals marooned down the field. But, by the first lap both Evans and Mortara had been in the wars, with Mortara forced to pit and entirely out of the fight.

    Reigning champ, Nyck de Vries played rear gunner for Vandoorne to occupy a racy Nick Cassidy as the Kiwi chased more silverware towards the end of the race but the Dutchman was able to hold fast for a podium. But it was meant to be for de Vries, as he got a 5 second penalty after the stewards found the Dutchman to change direction repeatedly under breaking.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Dennis, P2: Vandoorne, P3: Cassidy, P4: Askew, P5: Evans, P6: De Vries, P7: Da Costa, P8: Gunther, P9: Di Grassi and P10: Wehrlein.