Guenther gives Maserati its first single-seater win since Fangio

Formula E

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Maximilian Guenther converted pole position into victory in the second Jakarta EPrix to claim Maserati’s first win in Formula E.

The pole-winner took a comfortable win by almost three seconds over Jake Dennis, with Mitch Evans third for Jaguar. Nick Cassidy lost the lead of the championship to Pascal Wehrlein after the pair collided.

Having also claimed pole position for yesterday’s EPrix, Guenther bagged a second consecutive pole in the duels for the second race of the weekend, with Jake Dennis lining up alongside the Maserati on the front row. But before the race had even started, both Sergio Sette Camara and Sam Bird were both wheeled off the grid with apparent problems.

When the lights went out, Guenther kept his lead into turn one with Dennis slotting into second, Mitch Evans third and Sacha Fenestraz passing Stoffel Vandoorne for fourth. Facing a race distance two laps longer than yesterday, drivers knew energy conservation would be more critical, and those behind leader Guenther were content to sit behind the Maserati in the early laps.

Guenther took Attack Mode for the first time on lap four, allowing Dennis into the lead. But the Porsche driver would take his first Attack Mode on the next lap, moving Evans’ Jaguar into the lead but emerging ahead of Guenther into second place. Dennis gained the lead back when Evans followed suit on lap seven, his two minutes of extra power expiring as he led by half a second from Guenther.

David Beckmann became the first retirement from the race when he was hit by Lucas di Grassi, sending him into the TecPro barrier at turn seven. Meanwhile, out front, Evans took second place from Guenther into turn one at the start of lap nine, before Guenther battled back to reclaim the position exiting the same corner on the next lap.

Dennis continued to lead as the field remained heavily condensed, with the entire pack covered by less than eight seconds. Dennis then took his second, six-minute phase of Attack Mode just before the halfway stage, dropping to third place as Guenther moved into the lead. With clear air, Guenther pushed for the next lap before taking his second instance of Attack Mode, crucially emerging back ahead of Dennis in second place while Evans inherited the lead.

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With both Dennis and Guenther on Attack Mode, Dennis began to pressure Guenther for second place, attempting a move at turn one, which Guenther repelled. Evans would eventually take Attack Mode on lap 20, falling to third and returning Guenther and Dennis to the top of the order.

Guenther converted pole to win
Championship leader Cassidy was running behind his closest rival in the standings, the pair following the leading group on-track. Cassidy had a half-hearted look at the Porsche into turn 16 and clipped the rear of Wehrlein’s car, dislodging his front wing and forcing him into the pits for repairs.

Guenther and Dennis started to pull away from Evans in third, opening a gap of three seconds to the Jaguar driver. Then the leader began to pick up the pace and slowly built his advantage over Dennis behind. In fifth place, Vandoorne was heavily holding up a pack of cars behind including both Nissans of Fenestraz and Norman Nato. Eventually Fenestraz dived by into turn one, which allowed a whole group of cars to pick off Vandoorne’s DS Penske and drop him all the way down to 10th.

With Guenther in control out front, he could manage his remaining energy without pressure from Dennis behind. He checked off the remaining laps and cruised across the line to secure Maserati’s first Formula E victory and the first win for Maserati in an international single seater race since 1957.

Dennis was almost three seconds behind in second at the chequered flag, with Evans taking third for Jaguar. The two Nissans of Fenestraz and Nato earned solid points in fourth and fifth, ahead of the two Porsches of Wehrlein and Antonio Felix da Costa in sixth and seventh. Edoardo Mortara came eighth in the second Maserati, with Vandoorne ninth and Sebastien Buemi claiming the final point in tenth after Dan Ticktum fell out of the points in the closing laps.

The result means that Wehrlein moves into the lead of the championship, with Dennis in second place just one point behind after taking the fastest lap bonus point. Despite not scoring, Cassidy is only six points behind Wehrlein in third place.

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Jakarta Eprix race results

Pos.No.DriverTeamCar
17Maximilian GuentherMaseratiMaserati Tipo Folgore
227Jake DennisAndrettiPorsche 99X Electric Gen3
39Mitch EvansJaguarJaguar I-Type 6
423Sacha FenestrazNissanNissan e-4ORCE 04
517Norman NatoNissanNissan e-4ORCE 04
694Pascal WehrleinPorschePorsche 99X Electric Gen3
713Antonio Felix da CostaPorschePorsche 99X Electric Gen3
848Edoardo MortaraMaseratiMaserati Tipo Folgore
91Stoffel VandoorneDS PenskeDS E-TENSE FE23
1016Sebastien BuemiEnvisionJaguar I-Type 6
1133Dan TicktumNIO 333NIO 333 ER9
1251Nico MuellerAbt CupraMahindra M9Electro
134Robin FrijnsAbt CupraMahindra M9Electro
1411Lucas di GrassiMahindraMahindra M9Electro
1558Rene RastMcLarenNissan e-4ORCE 04
1625Jean-Eric VergneDS PenskeDS E-TENSE FE23
178Oliver RowlandMahindraMahindra M9Electro
1837Nick CassidyEnvisionJaguar I-Type 6
195Jake HughesMcLarenNissan e-4ORCE 04
2036Andre LottererAndrettiPorsche 99X Electric Gen3
2110Sam BirdJaguarJaguar I-Type 6
223Sergio Sette CamaraNIO 333NIO 333 ER9

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Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

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2 comments on “Guenther gives Maserati its first single-seater win since Fangio”

  1. There was a GP in Jakarta when Fangio was at Maserati?

  2. playstation361
    6th June 2023, 19:29

    Rowland out of Mahendra racing midway. I hope the stay was longer. He was one of the best looking racing drivers. I don’t know whatever happens in future but I am disappointed as electric vehicles are what today is and is getting a highly profitable competitive business everywhere globally without a specific region and money not taken into consideration and new generation public choosing this mode of transportation for their travel. It’s tough to describe the change that may happen for the next generation. Something’s it’s like this – This is not for you! There are factors like Consumer interest in a particular product, A group of fools in a crowd intended to show something more popular which is actually not. I am very angry with these kind of things happen suddenly and like hopes getting destroyed. What kind of market are we in today? Demand and Supply. Jealous fools don’t know demand increase when there is serious capital gain in a crowd for our growth which have to be invested for very few people which is perished very quickly no things should only be equal. Where are we heading next – Don’t know?. I am getting symptoms we are going into a mess with electric and non electric business in terms of foolish public who are not considered business owners or so called employees and only travel and that segment which I know is highly capital driven. I know you created them riche rich. No I don’t like all this black money business or political fans who are simply gossips. The only thing I want to see is change means FIA, FE, FANS see changes in terms of rules which may have a benifit for the growth of this category in term of others in this category or just quit it all before the next big confusion for other generation say something that might happen in 2024 which we dont know what it will look like.

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