Formula E

Formula E: Dan Ticktum wins dramatic Jakarta E-Prix - 1st victory for Kiro team in more than 10 years!

Timo Pape

Timo Pape

Birgit Dieryck / Spacesuit Media

Dan Ticktum sensationally claimed his first Formula E victory at the Jakarta E-Prix! In a high-class and thrilling race, he defended his position right into the final corner against Edo Mortara, who finished second for Mahindra. Nico Müller (Andretti) celebrated his second Formula E podium in third place. In the race, two contenders for victory, Jake Dennis and Nyck de Vries, were dramatically eliminated from the battle for the lead.

As expected, the left-hand side of the grid - the drivers on the odd-numbered grid positions - fared better at the start. Jake Dennis easily defended his lead, while Taylor Barnard (2) and Nick Cassidy (4) each lost a position. The first lap ended without any accidents - with the top five being Dennis, Nyck de Vries, Barnard, Dan Ticktum and Cassidy. Things were initially quiet in Jakarta. On lap 3, Jean-Eric Vergne was the first driver to take his first of two mandatory Attack Modes. Ticktum put pressure on third-placed Barnard, but the latter spread out.

Then came the first crash in turn 13 - caused by Vergne in four-wheel mode. He hit the car in front of him, Mitch Evans, and damaged his front wing in the process. Vergne had to come into the pits to have the wing changed and dropped to the back of the field. He also received a 5-second time penalty, as Evans had also suffered damage to the rear. The second DS Penske driver also experienced a scary moment: In a duel with Oliver Rowland, Max Günther hit the side of the wall - the premature end of the race for the German! Rowland received a 5-second time penalty for the incident.

Nico Müller fought his way past Sam Bird with a remarkable overtaking manoeuvre and took ninth position. There were no other notable position changes at the front. Rowland now attacked Evans, but remained behind the Jaguar driver on his first attempt. One lap later, he managed it and moved up to 11th place. Pascal Wehrlein - also out of the points - got his first Attack Mode on lap 13, but struggled to get to the front because there was a lot of dust next to the racing line and therefore very little grip.

Collision in the battle for the lead

Most of the drivers continued to focus on energy-efficient driving, so there were no overtaking manoeuvres in the top 10, especially as none of the top drivers had driven through the Attack Zone by then. On lap 17, the time had finally come: Ticktum got his first Attack Mode. Most of the other riders in the top 10 then reacted, and things became confusing. When the leading duo also went into Attack Mode on lap 19, Edo Mortara took the lead. Dennis returned to the racing line in second place. One lap later, Dennis and de Vries overtook Mortara again thanks to the additional power.

On lap 22, de Vries, who had activated two minutes more Attack Mode, attacked Dennis. However, the Briton in the lead held off. Then things got dramatic: De Vries drove alongside Dennis on the start and finish straight and aggressively pulled in front of the Andretti driver under braking. In doing so, he tore off part of his front wing! De Vries initially took the lead, but was later handed a 10-second time penalty for the accident! Dennis was able to continue. Due to the debris on the track, race control had to call the safety car onto the track. The main casualty was Cassidy, who lost a large part of his Attack Mode as a result.

On the restart on lap 26, the next contact was made directly with Cassidy, but this had no major consequences. There was then a collision between Rowland and Wehrlein, who both skidded sideways but were able to continue without any problems. Wehrlein had pushed the Briton at the entrance to the corner. De Vries and Ticktum were already in their second Attack Mode. Then Dennis also reacted and fell behind Ticktum. Mahindra double lead in Jakarta! Mortara was the big winner of the first Attack Mode phase and was now virtually in front in view of the penalty against his team-mate.

Drama for Hughes, Dennis, Vandoorne & de Vries!

On lap 30, Jake Hughes came to a halt in the run-off zone of turn 1. Race control called a full-course yellow to recover the Maserati. Things got even wilder at the restart: Dennis suddenly slowed down and dropped to the back of the field - for no apparent reason! Then Stoffel Vandoorne drove straight into the TecPro barrier at high speed with no visible braking effect and got out unhurt! Almost at the same time, de Vries rolled out with a technical defect. Full-course yellow was called again. Shortly before that, Ticktum had taken the lead ahead of Mortara!

Sebastien Buemi was now third, but also facing a 5-second time penalty for an early accident, ahead of Müller, Felix da Costa and Cassidy. Rowland, Barnard, Bird and Frijns completed the top 10. The race continued at race pace on lap 34. Mortara put direct pressure on Ticktum. All the drivers in the top 10 had now completed their Attack Modes. In addition, energy management no longer really played a role due to the three interruptions. So there were still a few laps of "honest" duels to come!

On the final lap, the focus was on the battle for victory between Ticktum and Mortara. The Kiro driver successfully defended in turn 1, the best overtaking spot. Ticktum focussed, withstood the pressure and sensationally took victory in the Jakarta E-Prix - the first of his Formula E career! Boundless jubilation in the Kiro pit, tears for team boss Alex Hui! It was the first victory for the team since 6 June 2015, more than ten years ago, when Nelson Piquet jr. won in Moscow! Mortara finished second, Müller third due to the Buemi penalty! Felix da Costa and Cassidy completed the top 5.

In the overall standings, Ticktum climbed to fifth place. Front-runner Rowland was even able to extend his lead over Wehrlein by a further point. Felix da Costa is third ahead of Barnard. Porsche was able to extend its lead among the teams, while Nissan continues to lead the manufacturers' standings. Cupra Kiro climbed to eighth place overall. The next Formula E weekend is three weeks away on 12 and 13 July. The electric series will then make a guest appearance for its penultimate double-header of the season in the German capital Berlin at Tempelhof Airport (get yout ticket here).

Results & lap times

Championship standings (drivers, teams & manufacturers)

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