Jordan's Track Talk

Tag: Seoul E-Prix

  • Round 16- Seoul E-Prix

    Free Practice 3-

    Edoardo Mortara headed the way in the final practice session ahead of the Hana Bank Seoul E-Prix Round 16 with the fastest time of the weekend – a 1m 21.019s.

    Mortara’s title charge ended in disappointment with a puncture in Round 15 but the Venturi driver is looking to support the team’s bid to outstrip Mercedes-EQ in the teams standings. The Swiss driver pipped Antonio Felix da Costa and Jake Dennis.

    Sacha Fenestraz made his bow in Formula E as he stepped in for Antonio Giovinazzi at Dragon / Penske Autosport with the Italian driver suffering a hand injury in Saturday’s race.

    Qualifying-

    Antonio Felix da Costa fired to an unstoppable Julius Baer Pole Position for Round 16, leaving Edo Mortara no scraps to feed on through a perfect lap. No driver had made more appearances on the front row this season more than Mortara.

    There was just one hundredth between them in the knockouts prior and da Costa piled the pressure on over the lap to secure pole by two tenths come the final couple of corners. Millimetre perfect – with no mistakes from the DS driver for his eighth pole position. He was the first and last Gen2 pole sitter…

    Venturi still looked well placed for their Teams’ scrap with Mercedes, Drivers table topper, Stoffel Vandoorne was behind in fourth. Mitch Evans has it all to do as he starts in the mid-pack after failing to progress to the Duels.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Da Costa, P2: Mortara, P3: Dennis, P4: Vandoorne, P5: Frijns, P6: Di Grassi, P7: Ticktum, P8: Vergne, P9: Guenther and P10: Sette Camara.

    Round 16-

    Stoffel Vandoorne steered his way to silverware with a second place finish in the Seoul E-Prix to make more than sure of sealing the 2021/22 ABB FIA Formula E Drivers’ World Championship as well as the Teams’ World Championship for Mercedes-EQ.

    Mortara checked out once he hit the front via a stunning dummy saw him complete a successful switchback on Julius Baer Polesitter, Antonio Felix da Costa on Lap 3. From there onwards, he managed the gap and used his energy perfectly to sign off his and Venturi’s campaign in style.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Mortara, P2: Vandoorne, P3: Dennis, P4: Frijns, P5: Askew, P6: Vergne, P7: Evans, P8: Cassidy, P9: Buemi and P10: Da Costa.

    World Champions; wow. It’s just the best feeling ever. Just look at the season we’ve had – the consistency and the car has been amazing and the team has done an incredible job – I think every single one of us deserves it. What we’ve accomplished is something special.

    Vandoorne on his Championship wins.

    This is huge. I’m just about holding it together at the moment. I’m so pleased for Stoffel – there isn’t anybody that deserves it more than him. He has been so consistent this year – everything he’s put into the building and team development – he’s been such an instrumental part of our success and to see him achieve this is a dream come true for him – it’s phenomenal. And then to do it in Mercedes-EQ’s final year as well. This is a very special moment.

    Team Principal Ian James.

    Thats the 21/2022 Formula E World Championship complete! A massive congratulations to Vandoorne and Mercedes on an incredible season.

    But when one season ends another one is coming… We are expecting a lot of driver news now the season has ended, but where will the World Champ go? There is a few possibilities… Keep your eyes peeled for more!

  • Round 15- Seoul E-Prix

    Free Practice 1-

    Stoffel Vandoorne headed the way in Free Practice 1 ahead of the Hana Bank Seoul E-Prix Round 15, pipping Edoardo Mortara to the top spot by 0.13 seconds.

    The pair were a tenth clear of Nick Cassidy, as the drivers got themselves accustomed to the all new Seoul circuit, weaving into and around the Olympic Stadium in Jamsil.

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

    Free Practice 2-

    Jean-Eric Vergne set the pace in FP2 ahead of Round 15, with a 1m 21.233s enough to edge out Mortara and Wehrlein by three thousandths of a second.

    Vergne and Mortara will be pleased with their pace as they look to keep their championship alive. The Championship leader, Vandoorne had set the 16th quickest time – not the performance the Mercedes driver would have been hoping for after topping FP1.

    Alexander Sims had fount the wall with his left rear, stranding his car at the pit-entry. Cassidy then came to a crawling a halt with a technical issue that forced the race director to throw a red flag and bring the session to an end.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Vergne, P2: Mortara, P3: Wehrlein, P4: Di Grassi, P5: Askew, P6: Cassidy, P7: Turvey, P8: Sette Camara, P9: Da Costa and P10: Dennis.

    Qualifying-

    Oliver Rowland steered to a fifth Julius Baer Pole Position in Formula E, outstripping Lucas di Grassi by more than half a second in tricky conditions as the heavens opened again Seoul.

    The future teammates faced off on a rain-soaked Seoul circuit, and both were ultra-committed and fighting at the wheel to keep everything together and that he did.

    Mitch Evans did his bit in the title fight to line up third, beaten to the final by di Grassi and Vandoorne starts seventh in the Mercedes-EQ.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Rowland, P2: Di Grassi, P3: Evans, P4: Wehrlein, P5: Dennis, P6: Mortara, P7: Vandoorne, P8: Sette Camara, P9: Vergne and P10: Buemi.

    Round 15-

    Mitch Evans, produced an excellent race under pressure to keep his title chances alive and slice into Vandoorne’s point advantage as the Kiwi jumped from third to the grid to the race win.

    The Jaguar driver dispatched Julius Baer Polesitter, Oliver Rowland off the line as the Brit struggled to get away cleanly over the greasy road markings.

    A hefty multi-car shunt at the penultimate corner of the first lap, caused a 45 minute red flag stoppage. Sebastian Buemi, Oliver Askew, Andre Lotterer, Dan Ticktum, Oliver Turvey, Nick Cassidy, Norman Nato and Nyck de Vries were all involved as they got caught out on standing water. Thankfully all drivers are okay, as it looked rather nasty and the halo being useful once again!

    From there after, it was relatively serene for Evans who managed a comfortable three-second gap for most of the race to Rowland.

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

    We are back again tomorrow for the final round, and where we will see who will be crowned the Champion of Season 8. The teams championship will also be decided tomorrow aswell.

  • A look into Seoul

    It’s our final race weekend of the year for Formula E! And it’s a special one as Formula E reaches 100 races. We are racing in Seoul for the finale at the Hana Bank Seoul E-Prix for Rounds 15 and 16.

    This weekend there will be a new champion crowned… But who will it be? Theoretically there is four drivers going for the Championship, but Vergne needs a perfect score in both races this weekend and Vandoorne not to score.

    But looking at the other title contenders, we have Vandoorne on the top spot at the moment, and his been rather consistent this season as well as his team Mercedes-EQ, but the last time we went to a new circuit (Jakarta) they struggled so this weekend in Seoul could prove rather tricky for them.

    Evans and Mortara, our other two title contenders, will be hoping for a bit of luck which they haven’t been given in the recent races, most notably with Evans retiring from the race in London in the closing stages, whilst running ahead of Vandoorne.

    It seems difficult to envisage a weekend where Vandoorne and Mercedes simply under-perform. So whilst I’m sure Evans and Mortara won’t be wishing bad luck upon the Belgian, it seems the only way of stopping the Mercedes driver from taking his first Formula E crown.

    The Circuit-

    The lap starts with a tight and technical run before entering the Jamsil Olympic stadium as the 22 racers put on a show for the grandstand audience.

    As they then leave the stadium, a batch of sweeping turns leading into a long straight connected by 90 degree turns follow as the circuit wraps around the Olympic park as the drivers jostle position around the fast 2.6km, 22 turn circuit.

    Seoul E-Prix street circuit

    Times for the weekend-

    Saturday 13th August-

    • Free Practice 1: 00:00am (BST)
    • Free Practice 2: 1:50am
    • Qualifying: 03:40am
    • Round 15: 08:00am

    Sunday 14th-

    • Free Practice 3: 01:30am (BST)
    • Qualifying: 03:40am
    • Round 16: 08:00am

  • Nato to step in for Bird

    Formula E race winner and Jaguar TCS Racing reserve driver, Norman Nato will step into the Jaguar car at the Hana Bank Seoul E-Prix Rounds 15 & 16, as Sam Bird misses out through injury.

    Bird was found to have broken his hand in a Lap 1 incident in the SABIC London E-Prix Round 14, following post race medical checks. The Brit tangled in the pack as its concertinaed around the tight Turns 1 and 2, with Bird later learning that the impact had fractured the metacarpal in his left hand, despite all this he climbed from 15th to eighth in the race.

    Jaguar noted in a statement immediately after the London double-header that Bird would be assessed in the days to follow, but since has been determined that he would be unable to compete in Seoul.

    It would mark the first races the 35 year old has failed to start in Formula E’s 98 race history as the championship approaches its centenary round to close out Season 8.

    Nato capped a fine rookie 2020/21 campaign for ROKiT Venturi Racing with a collected race win in the Berlin finale. The Frenchman who impressed throughout Season 7, could have counted himself unfortunate to miss out on a race seat this time around, with Jaguar quick to secure his services in a test and reserve role.

    I’m devastated not to be driving in the final two rounds of the season in Seoul, particularly as it would have been my 100th race in Formula E. I need to spend the next few weeks recovering from the operation on my left hand, so I am fully fit for testing and Season 9. I have confidence in Norman, he is a race winner and I’m sure he’ll bring some great points home for Jaguar TCS Racing.

    Sam Bird on not racing next week.

    We are hugely disappointed for Sam and that he won’t be competing next weekend in Seoul. It should have been his 100th Formula E race and I have to say his drive in London was nothing short of heroic, to drive through considerable pain and a slow puncture shows how much of a fighter he is. The priority now though is for his operation and focussing on a full recovery ahead of Gen3 testing and racing again in January. As a team we all have full faith in Norman to deliver valuable points for Jaguar TCS Racing. He won the season finale last year and is determined to help us fight for every place in the Teams’ standings.

    James Barclay Team Principle of Jaguar TCS Racing.

    Firstly I want to wish Sam the speediest of recoveries. As a reserve driver, I’ve been with the team every step of the way this season. Although I haven’t driven a Formula E car for over a year, when I get into the Jaguar I-TYPE 5 next weekend, I’ll be fighting for as many points as possible. I want to make the most of this opportunity.

    Norman Nato.
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