VALUABLE POINTS IN FIRST PUEBLA E-PRIX FOR JAGUAR RACING

20 June 2021

Jaguar Racing finished in the points with Mitch Evans after an eventful Puebla E-Prix which saw two safety car periods and more close racing action. Mitch has closed the gap to the current leader, Robin Frijns, and is only four points behind in the Drivers’ World Championship and Jaguar Racing continue in second place in the Teams’ World Championship.

  • Jaguar Racing driver, Mitch Evans, finished in the points in round eight of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship
  • Sam Bird climbed nine places through the field before a collision with Alex Lynn ended his race
  • Mitch Evans is fifth in the Drivers’ Standings, only four points behind championship leader, Robin Frijns, while teammate Sam Bird sits in seventh
  • Jaguar Racing remain in second place in the Teams’ World Championship, just six points behind Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team
  • Round nine of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship takes place on the 2.93km, 15-corner circuit tomorrow, Sunday 20 June 2021 at 16:00 local time

Kiwi, Mitch Evans, started in twelfth on the grid after finishing second in group one qualifying. The track evolution in between group one and group four was particularly evident in the colourful Mexican city of Puebla. In the race, which marks the halfway point in the season, the team delivered a solid ATTACK MODE and energy management strategy, allowing Evans to execute an impressive drive – carving his way through the pack and making strong decisive overtakes. A late safety car caused the all-electric racecars to bunch together. This combined with a second compulsory ATTACK MODE made further progress difficult for Mitch.

Briton, Sam Bird, started the race in eighteenth after a challenging qualifying session in the shadow of the Popocatepetl volcano. Bird showed the pace of the Jaguar I-TYPE 5 by working his way through the field gaining nine places before a collision with Alex Lynn when exiting the ‘joker lap’ ATTACK MODE activation zone caused him to retire.

Mitch Evans sits fifth in the ABB FIA Formula E Drivers’ World Championship and teammate Sam Bird is in seventh, meaning Bird will qualify in group two tomorrow.

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It was a bitter sweet feeling today. It’s good that we were able to score points with Mitch and close the gap to current leader, Robin Frijns, but we know there is more potential in our Jaguar I-TYPE 5 that we didn’t get to show today. The timing of Sam’s accident affected both of our drivers as the safety car caused the field to bunch up and made it extremely difficult for Mitch to deploy his second ATTACK MODE while losing minimal positions. Formula E is always unpredictable and today we had some bad luck. We’re going to debrief and focus on the second race we have tomorrow.

James Barclay
Team Director Jaguar Racing

A tough day in the office today. Nothing really went our way and unfortunately it ended with retirement. The race pace was good, we were up into the points but sadly it all came to an end early. We have another day tomorrow and fingers crossed that we can have a good result.

Sam Bird
#10 Jaguar Racing driver

We had a pretty decent start to the race, we made a few positions and we were biding our time to get on top of my energy - which was looking really strong. Then the safety car came out, when we were running in the top six, which really hurt us due to the ATTACK MODE activation penalty we have here in Puebla. To finish in eighth is solid points but I feel like we deserved more here today. We’ll digest what happened in the race today and come back stronger tomorrow.

Mitch Evans
#20 Jaguar Racing driver

Round nine of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship takes place tomorrow Sunday 20 June 2021 on the 2.93km, 15-corner circuit, at 16:00 local time.

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Further information

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

Jaguar returned to racing in October 2016, becoming the first premium manufacturer to join the all-electric ABB FIA Formula E World 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. In September 2020, the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship was also certified with a net zero carbon footprint from inception - the first global sport to achieve this. This season will be the third year for the teams to be racing with the futuristic Gen2 racecars.

Teams have two racecars, 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. 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.