– 4th place for Ticktum in Porsche 99X Electric WCG3
– World Champion Pascal Wehrlein extends qualifying record
– Mid-race pit stops for a 10 % energy boost
Customer team Cupra Kiro brought home manufacturer points for Porsche at Saturday’s race of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship Shanghai E-Prix. Dan Ticktum finished the race in 4th position, narrowly missing out on a second podium of the season after the Tokyo E-Prix two weeks ago (P3). The British driver started from 21st on the grid and progressed through the order in his highly efficient Porsche 99X Electric WCG3.
The TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team drivers finished just outside the points. World Champion Pascal Wehrlein crossed the line in 12th position. Taking P3 in qualifying, he extended his Formula E record of the most duel participations to 35. Teammate António Félix da Costa made up four positions in the race, finishing in 13th place.
During the race, teams again had to take a mandatory pit stop for a 10 % energy boost. During Pit Boost, the Porsche 99X Electric fast-charged 3.85 kWh with a charging power of 600 kW. For reference, Formula E’s safety car, road-going Porsche Taycan Turbo GT, charges with up to 320 kW. Both cars share the CCS charging system (Combined Charging System), symbolising technology transfer from race cars to production cars. CCS charging enables gentler charging at home in addition to powerful fast charging on the road.
Comments on the Shanghai E-Prix
Florian Modlinger, Director Factory Motorsport Formula E: « A tough one to swallow after a good pace in practice and P3 for Pascal in qualifying. António had a bigger challenge. His qualifying did not go as expected and he started from P17. So he had a lot of work to do but he progressed early. In general, we did not have the pace we expected in the race. Pascal lost several places in the beginning which put us on the back foot with the strategy and we had to take the Attack Modes early. On top, the front tyres degraded in traffic and the balance was no longer in the window. We now need to analyse in detail and we need to do a lot better for the upcoming races. We have not been good enough today but we will work very hard for tomorrow. Congrats to Cupra Kiro and Dan Ticktum on another good result with P4. »
Pascal Wehrlein, Porsche factory driver (#1): « It was a very strange day in the office. This morning in practice I was 18th, then in qualifying on fresh tyres we performed well with P3. Then, with used tyres in the race we dropped far back. We did not have the grip and pace that we expected after qualifying so we need to analyse that. Tomorrow is a different day. It might be raining so we need to change the car anyway but there is a lot to learn from today because at certain times we were fast and others far from the pace without doing much on the car. It’s another day tomorrow. »
António Félix da Costa, Porsche factory driver (#13): « It was not a good day. Somehow we were flying in both free practice sessions with P1. In qualifying we didn’t quite hit the balance we needed, had understeer and qualified in P17. In the race we were doing well and got into the top ten fairly early on, but then the strategy didn’t go to plan and we dropped back. It’s frustrating but we have another race tomorrow. And it looks like rain is coming. »
ABB FIA Formula E World Championship – standings after 10 of 16 races
Drivers’ classification : 1. Oliver Rowland (GBR), 171 points ; 2. Taylor Barnard (GBR), 85 points ; 3. Pascal Wehrlein (GER), 84 points ; 4. António Félix da Costa (POR), 73 points… 8. Jake Dennis (GBR), 56 points ; 9. Dan Ticktum (GBR), 55 points… 18. Nico Müller (SUI), 24 points… 22. David Beckmann (GER), 0 points.
Teams’ classification : 1. Nissan Formula E Team (JPN), 190 points ; 2. TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team (GER), 157 points ; 3. DS Penske (USA), 135 points… 6. Andretti Formula E (USA), 80 points… 10. CUPRA KIRO (USA), 55 points
Manufacturers’ classification : 1. Nissan, 281 points ; 2. Porsche, 226 points ; 3. Stellantis, 191 points…
Yannick Bitzer,