Dennis dominates in Rome as Evans crashes Cassidy out of championship lead

Jake Dennis took a giant step towards the Formula E title in the second Rome Eprix with a dominant win after his two closest rivals crashed.

The Andretti driver led every lap of the second race of the weekend in Rome after Mitch Evans crashed into Nick Cassidy on the second lap of the race, taking them both out of contention.

Norman Nato held onto second despite a broken front wing with Sam Bird claiming the final podium position in third.

After losing the championship lead to Nick Cassidy in the first race of the weekend on Saturday, Jake Dennis took pole position for the second race with his rival starting alongside him on the front row. When the lights went out, Dennis held the lead with Cassidy slotting into second place, Norman Nato in third and Saturday’s race winner Mitch Evans in fourth ahead of team mate Sam Bird.

Nato briefly took second from Cassidy before being repassed by the Envision driver, which allowed Evans to jump him for third at the same time. As they headed up the hill towards turn seven on the second lap, Dennis and Cassidy were side-by-side with Evans behind the pair of them. Evans locked his rear wheels and hit the rear of his two rivals ahead, launching him up into the air and over the top of Cassidy’s car.

The dramatic accident caused heavy damage to both Cassidy and Evans’ cars, dropping them to the rear of the field. Behind, there was more contact as the field tried to take avoiding action. Crucially, Dennis managed to avoid damage and remain in the lead of the race, with the Safety Car being deployed to clean up the debris.

The race restarted at the start of lap four with Dennis leading away Nato, Bird and Dan Ticktum in fourth. Cassidy continued down in 17th, while Evans returned to the garage complaining of an “undriveable” car, eventually retiring. Nato had a half-hearted look at the leader into turn 17 on lap six, clipping the rear of Dennis’s car but only damaging his front wing in the process.

Dennis and Nato both took their first two minutes of Attack Mode at the end of lap eight, Nato falling behind Bird into third and Dennis emerging still in the lead. Despite having Attack Mode, Dennis came under heavy pressure from Bird behind. Bird had several looks at the leader but could not get by, eventually taking his first six minutes of Attack Mode and dropping to fourth behind Sebastian Buemi, who had made up places after the restart. Dennis and Nato both took six minutes of Attack Mode on lap 14, with Nato resuming ahead of Bird in second, despite his broken front wing.

Bird in third took Attack Mode for a second time on lap 18 to keep his position. With only five laps remaining, Bird had more useable energy remaining than his two rivals ahead, but was struggling to find his way by Nato. Over the final laps, Dennis pulled a small gap of over two seconds to Nato behind, with Bird unable to get by the Nissan driver.

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With no added laps despite the short Safety Car, Dennis crossed the line at the end of the 24th lap to take a dominant victory – only his second of the season – and put himself in a commanding position in the lead of the championship with only two rounds remaining. Nato held off Bird to claim second with a broken front wing, with the Jaguar driver claiming the final podium place in third.

Edoardo Mortara finished in fourth ahead of Buemi in fifth and Maximilian Guenther in sixth. Pascal Wehrlein finished seventh, with Stoffel Vandoorne, Ticktum and Nico Muller rounding out the points. Cassidy was classified in 14th, well out of the points, after he received a five-second time penalty for a desperate lunge on Andre Lotterer on the final lap that put both in the barrier at turn 14.

Dennis now holds a 24 point lead in the championship, giving him a chance to clinch the title at the penultimate round in London. Evans remains in mathematical contention but is 44 points behind in third.

2023 Rome Eprix round 14 race results:

1	27	Jake Dennis	Andretti	Porsche 99X Electric Gen3
2	17	Norman Nato	Nissan	Nissan e-4ORCE 04
3	10	Sam Bird	Jaguar	Jaguar I-Type 6
4	48	Edoardo Mortara	Maserati	Maserati Tipo Folgore
5	16	Sebastien Buemi	Envision	Jaguar I-Type 6
6	7	Maximilian Guenther	Maserati	Maserati Tipo Folgore
7	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Porsche	Porsche 99X Electric Gen3
8	1	Stoffel Vandoorne	DS Penske	DS E-TENSE FE23
9	33	Dan Ticktum	NIO 333	NIO 333 ER9
10	51	Nico Mueller	Abt Cupra	Mahindra M9Electro
11	5	Jake Hughes	McLaren	Nissan e-4ORCE 04
12	13	Antonio Felix da Costa	Porsche	Porsche 99X Electric Gen3
13	58	Rene Rast	McLaren	Nissan e-4ORCE 04
14	37	Nick Cassidy	Envision	Jaguar I-Type 6
15	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	DS Penske	DS E-TENSE FE23
16	23	Sacha Fenestraz	Nissan	Nissan e-4ORCE 04
17	36	Andre Lotterer	Andretti	Porsche 99X Electric Gen3
18	3	Sergio Sette Camara	NIO 333	NIO 333 ER9
19	4	Robin Frijns	Abt Cupra	Mahindra M9Electro
20	8	Oliver Rowland	Mahindra	Mahindra M9Electro
21	11	Lucas di Grassi	Mahindra	Mahindra M9Electro
22	9	Mitch Evans	Jaguar	Jaguar I-Type 6

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