Marrakesh, Morocco, July 5th - Once again, Marrakesh proved to be a fitting destination for DS TECHEETAH. The last time that Formula E came to Morocco in 2020, Antonio Felix Da Costa had claimed pole position before winning the race, whilst Jean-Eric Vergne had rounded off a fine team effort with third place.
The Franco-Chinese team therefore came into this year’s race at the Moulay El Hassan track, round ten of the FIA Formula E World Championship, with high hopes of a good result. In their DS E-Tense FE21s, Antonio Felix Da Costa and Jean-Eric Vergne confirmed these hopes and their current excellent form by grabbing pole position and third place on the starting grid. In the race itself, Da Costa held position at the start and, after a race full of overtaking, finished as runner-up. He thus took his first podium of a season that has seen him compete at the front again. Jean-Eric Vergne, especially strong in energy management, put together a well-crafted performance and looked on course to finish on the podium at least, but he had to settle for fourth place in the end after struggling in the closing stages.
“Well, that’s Marrakesh done and dusted,” commented the 2018 and 2019 Formula E champion. “So, we finished in fourth place. I struggled towards the end and we need to find out why. I was having a solid race before losing pace in the last few minutes. The next two races are in New York, a place that I love. I'm really looking forward to it and I hope we can get some good results there.” Comments that were echoed by Thomas Chevaucher, Director of DS Performance and DS TECHEETAH Team Principal: “We secured a very good second position and thirty-three points for the team, but we’re obviously disappointed not to have won this race. Our cars are quick, our drivers are on form and we’re scoring lots of points at each race. We’re going to keep working hard to convert this great potential into race wins. The titles are very much in our sights!” DS TECHEETAH now switches its attention to New York as it aims to win at rounds eleven and twelve of the season, held on 16-17 July.
DS TECHEETAH scored no fewer than thirty-three points at the 2022 Marrakesh E-Prix, which enables the Franco-Chinese team to close to within just two points of the leading outfit in the teams’ championship standings. Meanwhile, Jean-Eric Vergne holds onto second place in the drivers’ championship, eleven points behind the leader, while Antonio Felix Da Costa moves up to sixth position.
