13/02/2023 News
DS PENSKE win in Hyderabad with Vergne!
Hyderabad, India, 13th february - Season nine of the FIA Formula E World Championship is now well and truly underway, with a fourth race in less than a month.
The series broke new ground this weekend, as the drivers and teams contested a race in India for the very first time. Round four saw the competitors tackle the new Hyderabad circuit in the capital of the state of Telangana. In the past, DS PENSKE has often demonstrated an acute ability to get to grips with a new track from the get go and this talent was on display once again here in the subcontinent, showing that lessons had been learned from the first three, slightly disappointing outings in the championship thus far. Jean-Eric Vergne was immediately comfortable in the DS E-TENSE FE23 in free practice and then grabbed the second fastest time in qualifying, just two tenths behind the pole position time. Meanwhile, Stoffel Vandoorne had to settle for seventeenth place on the starting grid but nevertheless refused to be beaten, aware of the qualities of his car, not least its proven speed in racing conditions. Cheered on by huge crowds (25,000 fans), Jean-Eric Vergne produced the perfect race performance, managing first of all to grab the lead, before then holding off a series of attacks from his rivals.
He went on to claim his eleventh race win in the championship and the sixteenth success for DS Automobiles. Vandoorne rounded off a fine team performance by battling his way through the field to finish in a superb eighth place. He might even have claimed sixth place overall had he not been punished with five-second penalty for failing to stay within the track limits. "I'm obviously delighted with this win," beamed Jean-Eric Vergne at the finish. "It's super for the team to be back at the top after three difficult races. We have clearly made quite a bit of progress. We have to keep going, obviously, but to be honest, I'm feeling pretty confident because I think we still have a good deal of room for improvement. It's now up to us to work hard to go and get more results like this one!" The next round of the FIA Formula E World Championship sees the competitors take on yet another new track, this time in Cape Town on 25 February. Clearly, DS PENSKE would love to confirm that it is back among the frontrunners in South Africa.