Andretti Formula E Report: London ePrix Race One
The picturesque setting of London’s historic Battersea Park played host to the first of the final two rounds of the 2014-2015 FIA Formula E Championship today. The exhilarating London ePrix Race One saw Andretti Formula E Team driver Jean-Eric Vergne succeed in what many had considered impossible by making two incredible passes to secure a third-place podium finish at the end of Round 10.
Swiss-born Andretti Autosport IndyCar driver Simona de Silvestro joined the Formula E team in the capital. The 26-year-old was immediately at home on the unique 2.925km anti-clockwise circuit which uses existing internal perimeter roads within the 200-acre park. The extremely narrow, tree-lined track runs along the River Thames and boasts a mixture of fast straights, high-speed bends, challenging chicanes and braking zones designed by British architect and F1 circuit planner, Simon Gibbons.
Roger Griffiths, Co-Team Principal, Andretti Formula-E Team
“We are pretty pleased with today and the third place for JEV. He drove an exciting yet smart race, passing two of the most competitive drivers on track and maximised the best of the battery to bring car 27 home on the podium. It was also a good, solid debut from Simona on a very difficult track for your first Formula E race. She showed a competitive turn of speed, which we will obviously build on this for tomorrow.
“With the announcement yesterday of the formation of Andretti Technologies and our new partnership with TE Connectivity, we are very pleased to have been able to show competitive pace in front of our new partners today. We now look forward to coming back to Battersea Park tomorrow to conclude what has been a remarkable inaugural Formula E Championship season.”
Jean-Éric Vergne, No. 27 Spark-Renault SRT_01E
– Qualified in P5 from Group Two
– Collected the team’s fourth Championship trophy with a P3 podium finish
– Cemented the team’s fifth place position on the leaderboard with a 15 points haul
– Currently seventh in the Drivers’ Championship
“It was a really fun race; I enjoyed it with nice overtaking on a track which is not easy. To finish on the podium is a great achievement, but we had the car to win today, so we are going to do everything we can tomorrow to make it happen.”
Simona de Silvestro, No. 28 Spark-Renault SRT_01E
– Qualified in P17 from Group Four
– Finished her maiden ePrix just outside the points in P11.
“I think P11 is okay, we’ll take it from where we started. The race was very interesting and I learned a lot. I am happy that we have two races this weekend, so tomorrow will definitely be much better. The team did a great job involving me from the minute I got here; explaining everything I had to know to be able to get on the programme really fast.”
Andretti Formula-E Team sits in fifth place in the FIA Formula E Team Championship with 119 points. The 2014-15 season concludes with round eleven tomorrow in Battersea Park, London, England. For information about the Andretti Formula-E team, visit AndrettiAutosport.com, and stay up to date on Twitter via @AndrettiFE.
