Hot, hotter, Rome. The penultimate round of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship turned out to be an absolute scorcher. With air temperatures around 40 degrees and the asphalt hitting about 60 degrees Celsius, the drivers, teams and the Hankook iON Race were pushed to the limit. The racers who coped best with the challenging conditions were New Zealand’s Mitch Evans, who won Saturday’s opening race of the Hankook Rome E-Prix for the Jaguar TCS Racing team, and Jake Dennis (GB/Avalanche Andretti Formula E), who took the chequered flag on Sunday.
Hankook Director Motorsport Manfred Sandbichler: “What a magnificent race weekend. We have seen two exciting races with delighted winners. And the Hankook iON Race also impressed again with a commanding performance and absolute reliability – despite the fact that the extreme heat was not the only thing making the conditions challenging. Circuito Cittadino dell´EUR in Rome had a little bit of something from all the tracks we have visited so far in Season 9. Five different types of asphalts and different coloured surfaces meant the grip level changed all the time on this track. Climbs and descents, banking around roughly half the circuit, and the tight 90-degree corners that demanded hard braking really put our Hankook iON Race through its paces. We have received very positive feedback on the tyre’s performance from the drivers. I am also very glad that none of the drivers involved in the big crash in Saturday’s race were injured. That shows that the cars’ safety concept is very effective.”
Victory for Dennis sees him move to the top of the Drivers’ Championship with 195 points. With just two races remaining, he is on course to win the world championship. New Zealander Nick Cassidy (Envision Racing) is second with 171 points. Cassidy’s compatriot and the winner of Saturday’s race, Mitch Evans, lies third going into the final event.
