Porsche narrowly misses first podium of the season

In the second night race at the season opener of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, Porsche narrowly missed out on the first podium of the year. André Lotterer took a strong fourth place for the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E team in the #36 Porsche 99X Electric. With starting number 94, Pascal Wehrlein finished ninth and thus also secured world championship points. After an accident in the closing stages, the race ended behind the Porsche Taycan Turbo S, the new Formula E safety car.

The race 2
Thanks to another good performance in qualifying, André Lotterer started the race on the 2.495-kilometre street circuit on the outskirts of the capital Riyadh from fifth place on the grid. With his Porsche 99X Electric, he rode in the leading group for the entire distance, improved to fourth place in the final stages and thus secured a good starting position for a podium finish. However, a few minutes before the end of the race, an accident involving a competitor robbed him of his chance of making the decisive attack, after which the safety car, the Porsche Taycan Turbo S, was deployed. After that there was no restart. Pascal Wehrlein started eleventh, drove a solid race and improved to ninth place.

Quotes on the Diriyah E-Prix, Race 2

Amiel Lindesay, Head of Operations Formula E: “The team worked hard during the night to solve our difficulties from Race 1. That worked very well. Pascal impressed with a best time in the third free practice session, while André again secured a good grid position in qualifying. We were also doing well in the race and confident that André might even make it onto the podium. But then the Safety Car threw a spanner in the works. Nevertheless, that was a great increase in performance compared to the day before.”

André Lotterer, Porsche works driver (#36):“Although we scored important points in fourth, I'm leaving Diriyah with somewhat mixed feelings. A podium would have been possible today. After the experience of race 1 I tried to save energy as much as possible. I was overtaken by two cars, but was still able to secure a good starting position for the final phase. Unfortunately, the safety car came out, so I couldn't make a final attack. But fourth place is also a good result and makes us confident for the next race in Mexico.”

Pascal Wehrlein, Porsche works driver (#94):“After my best time in the last free practice session, I had expected a bit more in qualifying. But the track changes very quickly here and somehow we didn't manage to adapt well enough. I had good pace in the race, but because of the safety car I wasn't able to overtake any further at the end. Nevertheless, we learned a lot this weekend and I am confident that we can fully exploit our potential in Mexico.”

The
next step The next race for the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team is Mexico City on February 12th E-Prix in Mexico City, the 3rd round of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.