After losing the second Jeddah E-Prix pole position to Taylor Barnard, Oliver Rowland stormed to victory in race two, with chaos unleashed behind him.
Pre-race
After the exciting qualifying duel between former Master Oliver Rowland and Apprentice Taylor Barnard, anticipation built ahead of the weekend’s second race. Barnard became the youngest polesitter in Formula E history, adding to his accolades as the youngest point scorer and podium finisher.
Having taken his second podium in three races, all eyes were on the NEOM McLaren driver to see if he could break yet another record in Formula E. Down the order, established names pushed for redemption. Pascal Wehrlein started down in P14, and needed a strong comeback to salvage his evening.
Jaguar TCS’s challenges continued unabated, Mitch Evans lining up a disappointing P16, and teammate Nick Cassidy could not do better than P18. Stoffel Vandoorne’s efforts were curtailed after being disqualified from qualifying due to an unarmed fire extinguisher on his car.
With no Pit Boost to contend with, Race two would be a straight run to the chequered flag. The two main questions ahead of the race start were could Barnard secure the win, and would the second race of the weekend be as equally chaotic as the first?
Lights out and crash
The first start was aborted due to Zane Maloney’s Lola being out of position. After a reset, the car moved into place.
At lights out, Barnard converted his pole position, Hughes moved into second place, displacing Rowland. Sam Bird in the second McLaren moved into P4, with Nick de Vries moving into P5.
But Max Gunther crashed heavily into Antonio Felix Da Costa. The DS Penske punted the Porsche into a spin, both cars retiring with terminal damage.
The first few laps saw the top three in stabilise, while Dan Ticktum forced his way passed de Vries to take P6. Di Grassi’s Lola became the first to take Attack Mode, after just three laps.
Jean Eric Vergne was the biggest winner in the opening laps, moving into P3. Seemingly gifted the place by Rowland, it was clear tactics were already in play. By the next lap Vergne was back in P4.
Di Grassi’s Attack Mode, had jumped up to P2 by lap 6, and his initial assault on Barnard failed, but now slotted into Lola’s best position.
Attack Mode recoveries and lead change
Pascal Wehrlein was next to try Attack Mode on lap 7. Moving from the lower order up to P5, while Rowland took the lead from Barnard who began to fall down the order as he too fell victim to Wehrlein’s Porsche.
Cassidy was next to take Attack Mode, and he advanced up the order to move in the points. Another question was whether he could stay there due to the pace of the Jaguar TCS.
As the drivers started lap 10, none of the top three had taken their Attack Mode, the teams now playing a waiting game of who would blink first.
Robin Frijns took advantage of this, taking the lead on lap 12, utlising the extra power. The Envision pulled out almost a second on the rest of the field, running his own race.
The second Jaguar of Evans also advanced up the order, moving into P3, while the de-facto leaders of Rowland and Barnard continued to wait to use their Attack Mode.
Rowland dived off the racing line to use his first Attack Mode on lap 14, crucially rejoining ahead of Barnard. Taking only two minutes, he had six minutes remaining for his next deployment.
Reacting on the next lap, Barnard and Vergne deposed Frijns and Hughes to move back to P2 and P3. Barnard left himself vulnerable to a late lunge from rivals, as he opted to leave himself with only four minutes of his second Attack Mode.
Rowland now had an almost two second gap on the rest of the field, but he easily retook the lead on lap 17.
Tactical battles
Further down the order, the two Jaguars were still in the points as the race passed half distance. Cassidy took P6 from Dan Ticktum, only to lose the place to the Cupra Kiro.
Rowland retook the lead on lap 19, with an energy advantage over the eight cars behind him and more Attack Mode minutes.
Cassidy’s Jaguar looked like a car transformed in the race’s second half, running competitively in P3, and targeting taking P2 from Barnard.
But Jake Dennis disrupted proceedings at the front by moving into the lead on lap 24, courtesy of Attack Mode. Rowland reacted immediately and took his, rejoining behind Barnard but sailing past the NEOM McLaren with ease.
Mitch Evans’ strong race ended on lap 26, as Jaguar’s challenging start to the season continued.
Rowland retook the lead from Dennis, and looked to increase his advantage over the field. Barnard and Vergne, were now stuck behind Dennis, but Barnard past both and set off in pursuit of Rowland.
But the difference in Attack Mode came back to haunt the NEOM McLaren. As Barnard’s extra energy ran out, Rowland still had over 40 seconds remaining.
Tense Finale
With just two laps left, Jake Hughes joined the battle for second place, as he used his extra energy to close on Barnard.
Although his energy ran out, he needed for force his fellow Briton into a mistake, and despite a few wide corners, the NEOM McLaren maintained positon.
Hughes looked to have past Barnard, however the NEOM McLaren driver forced his rival wide.
Behind, Jake Dennis came from nowhere to almost take P3, but Hughes had done enough to secure a visit to the rostrum.
After a calculated and mature drive, Rowland took his second win of the season, with Barnard coming home in second place. An all-British top four sets another accolade in Formula E history.
Full results
- Oliver ROWLAND Nissan Formula E Team
- Taylor BARNARD NEOM McLaren Formula E Team
- Jake HUGHES Maserati MSG Racing
- Jake. DENNIS Andretti Formula E
- Nick CASSIDY Jaguar TCS Racing
- Stoffel. VANDOORNE Maserati MSG Racing
- Jean Eric VERGNE DS PENSKE
- Pascal. WEHRLEIN TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team
- Dan. TICKTUM Cupra Kiro
- Edoardo MORTARA MAHINDRA RACING
- Nico. MÜLLER Andretti Formula E
- Sam BIRD NEOM McLaren Formula E Team
- Nick DE VRIES MAHINDRA RACING
- Robin FRIJNS Envision Racing
- Norman NATO Nissan Formula E Team
- Lucas. DI GRASSI LOLA YAMAHA ABT Formula E Team
- David. BECKMANN Cupra Kiro
- Zane. MALONEY LOLA YAMAHA ABT Formula E Team
- Sebastien BUEMI SUI Envision Racing
NOT CLASSIFIED
Mitch EVANS Jaguar TCS Racing
Antonio Felix DA COSTA TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team
Maximilian GÜNTHER DS PENSKE
Feature Image Credit: Formula E Media Centre/ Andrew Ferraro/LAT Images
