Cape Town, South Africa, 27th February 2023 - Round five of the Formula E World Championship saw the series make its first trip to Cape Town in South Africa.
Surrounded by sea on one side and overlooked by the imposing Table Mountain on the other, the very fast track proved very popular with the drivers from the word go. DS PENSKE's two representatives certainly wasted no time in making their mark, as Jean-Eric Vergne secured fifth position in his DS E-TENSE FE23 during the qualifying session, whilst Stoffel Vandoorne was unfortunately hampered on his final attempt at a flying lap, and ended up having to start from twelfth position. In the race itself, Vergne confirmed the return to form of the Franco-American team, who were winners last time out in Hyderabad, India. He got among the frontrunners and then fought for the race win, before ultimately losing out to his former team-mate, Antonio Felix Da Costa. His second place was nonetheless another very fine performance. At the same time, Vandoorne scored crucial points by fighting back to finish seventh overall. "It was a superb weekend in Cape Town," commented a delighted Jean-Eric Vergne at the finish. "I loved the city and the atmosphere around the track was absolutely fantastic. And the track itself was really very nice. Overall, I'm very pleased with second place, and at the same time, it's good to feel somewhat frustrated to finish as runner-up! It shows that, as a team, we just keep getting stronger, race by race. As long as we keep improving like this, I think I'll be very happy."
His team-mate and defending world champion, Stoffel Vandoorne, also wanted to remain positive, despite the feeling that he could have done better: "I would like to say it was a tough weekend but in fact, I think we did a very good job. We worked well during free practice and were in a good position to showcase our form in the qualifying session. But luck wasn't on my side… I was on a good lap when I had to abandon my attempt due to a red flag. I was then held up on my next flying lap. So I ended up twelfth on the starting grid, whereas I honestly think that I could have made it into the top five. Fortunately, we performed very well again in the race. Thanks to a good strategy and very good pace, I was able to fight back to finish seventh, which means I picked up a good number of points, both for me and the team. JEV's podium also shows that we are making constant progress and the work we have done is paying off. I'm sure my luck is bound to improve at some point!" We won't need to wait long to find out, as the series resumes on 25 March in São Paulo, Brazil, at what will be the Formula E World Championship's third new track this year.
Thanks to his second consecutive top-two finish, Jean-Eric Vergne made up nineteen points on Pascal Wehrlein and Jake Dennis, the two rivals ahead of him in the drivers’ championship, and he closes in on the leaders. Thanks to Vergne's result and Stoffel Vandoorne's seventh place finish, DS PENSKE now lies fifth in the teams' championship.
