JAGUAR RACING LEAVE ROME LEADING THE TEAMS AND 1-2 IN THE DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIPS

11 April 2021

Jaguar Racing leave Rome leading the ABB FIA Formula E Teams’ and Drivers’ World Championships after a successful double‑header weekend

  • Jaguar Racing leave Rome leading the ABB FIA Formula E Teams’ and Drivers’ World Championships after a successful double‑header weekend
  • The second race of the Rome E‑Prix saw Jaguar Racing continue their point scoring run with Mitch Evans finishing a solid sixth
  • Brit, Sam Bird’s race ended in a final‑lap collision with Nyck De Vries and Oliver Rowland
  • Sam Bird leads the Drivers’ Championship with 43 points and teammate Mitch Evans follows in a close second with 39 points
  • Jaguar Racing lead the Teams’ World Championship by 17 points ahead of the Mercedes‑EQ Formula E Team
  • The lights turn green for the fifth and sixth rounds of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship on 24 & 25 April 2021 on the Valencian Ricardo Tormo circuit, Spain

The second Rome E‑Prix race saw Jaguar Racing continue their point scoring run with Mitch Evans finishing a solid sixth. The Kiwi qualified in twelfth and was able to slice his way through the pack, gaining six places. Evans made decisive overtakes throughout the race and showed the strong pace of the Jaguar I‑TYPE 5 with a final overtake of Antonio Felix Da Costa, the reigning Formula E champion.

Sam Bird also had a good start to the day after topping group one with his Jaguar I‑TYPE 5 in a rain affected qualifying session. Starting eleventh on the grid, the Brit demonstrated skills and speed throughout the race before the Safety Car was deployed with eight minutes to go. As the green flag fell for the final lap of the race, an intense one lap shoot‑out ended when Nyck De Vries collided with Sam, taking them both out of the race.

ROME E-PRIX - ROUND FOUR

Sam Bird now leads the Drivers’ World Championship by 43 points with teammate Mitch Evans following in a close second with 39 points.

Jaguar Racing lead the Teams’ World Championship by 17 points ahead of the Mercedes‑EQ Formula E Team.

We’ve had a very good weekend here in Rome. Our first double podium yesterday was a great result and we followed this up with good points for the team today too. Our qualifying performance was really strong, given the mixed weather conditions, and Mitch had a really polished drive through the field. It is a shame that Sam was taken out late in the race as we could have scored even more points including the fastest lap. If it wasn’t for that late Safety Car I think it would have been a really interesting finish as we were doing really well on energy management. We leave Rome in a great position leading both the Teams’ and Drivers’ Championship and we’re very much looking forward to racing again in just two weeks’ time in Valencia.

James Barclay
Team Director, Jaguar Racing:
JAGUAR RACING LEAVE ROME LEADING THE TEAMS AND 1-2 IN THE DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIPS

Today’s race pace was strong, I had good energy in comparison to some of the cars ahead but the late Safety Car unfortunately meant that we couldn’t challenge for the podium. Overall we’ve scored good points this weekend and to get this result ‑ leading the Teams’ and Drivers’ Championship is really positive. It’s great to start the season like this but we can’t get complacent. We know we need to go back to base, do our homework to try and be competitive in Valencia too.”

Mitch Evans
Jaguar Racing driver, #20
ROME E-PRIX - ROUND FOUR

Overall a very positive weekend for Jaguar Racing. Today wasn’t ideal for me, with the collision, but we we were in the points until the very end, showing that we do have the pace. We are leading the Drivers’ and Teams’ Championship which is amazing and we’ll work hard now to continue to learn, grow and we’ll keep going forwards.

Sam Bird
Jaguar Racing driver, #10

The lights turn green for the fifth and sixth rounds of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship on 24 and 25 April 2021 on the Valencian Ricardo Tormo circuit, Spain.

Further information

For further information about Jaguar Racing, please contact:

Adrian Atkinson, Global PR and Communications Manager, Jaguar Racing

Tel: +44 (0) 7979 554005

Email: aatkins5@jaguarlandrover.com

 

Emily Hogg, Global Brand and Partnerships Officer, Jaguar Racing

Tel: + 44 (0) 7384 532 605

Email: ehogg2@jaguarlandrover.com

Notes to Editors

ABOUT JAGUAR RACING

Jaguar returned to racing in October 2016, becoming the first premium manufacturer to join the all‑electric ABB FIA Formula E Championship street racing series. In 2019 the team won the Rome E‑Prix – Jaguar’s first international motorsport victory since 1991.

Formula E is a real‑world test bed for Jaguar with its Race To Innovate mission in the future of electrification.

As an official manufacturer team in Formula E, Jaguar Racing designs its own powertrain, which includes the motor, transmission, inverter and rear suspension.

To control costs the carbon fibre chassis and battery are common components and the same for all twelve teams. This allows the focus to be on developing electric vehicle powertrains which are efficient and lightweight which will improve the performance and range of future Jaguar Land Rover electric vehicles.

The 2020/21 Formula E season is the first as the all‑electric series has been granted full world championship status by the FIA – the sport’s governing body. It will be the third year for the teams to be racing with the futuristic Gen2 race cars.

Teams have two race cars, one per driver, which will be used for the full race distance.

Beyond its all‑electric concept, Formula E is unique in the world of motorsport for its choice of venues. The championship takes place on temporary street circuits in the centre of the world’s major cities including Santiago, Diriyah, Rome, Paris, Monaco, New York and ending in a double‑header race weekend in London.  

Mitch Evans finished season six seventh in the Drivers' Championship and Jaguar Racing finished seventh in the Teams' Standings with a win in Mexico City, a podium in Santiago and one pole position. He is joined for season seven by British driver Sam Bird, who has won a race in every season of Formula E.

In season seven the championship is official recognised as a world championship by the governing body the FIA. It will be known as the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.

 

Race to Innovate

Formula E remains a key priority for Jaguar Land Rover and the company’s Reimagine journey. As the only all‑electric world championship, Formula E allows us to test and develop new electric vehicle technologies in a high‑performance environment. It continues to be the test‑bed for our Race to Innovate mission that will see Race to Road and Road to Race learnings that will help shape our electric future – a future that Jaguar is passionate about, and dedicated to for the benefit of our society, the changing landscape of mobility, sustainability and our customers.