Two poles, a podium and a victory. Maserati’s tally at the Jakarta ePrix weekend bodes well for the future, but in the meantime the Maserati brand is enjoying the moment.
Sixty-six years after the last triumph on the track, Maserati wins again with Max Gunther author of a weekend in which he wrote a page in the history not only of the Italian marque, but also of motorsport. A crazy day, in which the German was able to convert the pole position conquered in the morning into a success which came at the end of a race dominated, especially from the middle of the race onwards.
Gunther was the first of the frontrunners to engage Attack Mode on lap four, dropping to third behind Dennis and Evans, who in turn engaged the 350 kWh mode. Another key moment in the race occurred on lap 15, when the Briton engaged the extra power mode, momentarily slipping behind both Gunther and Mitch Evans.
Maximilian Gunther, Maserati Racing, Maserati Tipo Folgore
Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images
With Dennis stuck behind Evans’s slower Jaguar, Gunther immediately picked up his pace, enough to be able to engage Attack Mode and come out front again. The decisive moment was the one in which the Maserati standard-bearer pushed, opening the gap until he reached a three-second lead, a phase in which Jake Dennis, then second across the finish line, was unable to respond. A breakaway built by lapping at a low 1:10 which clearly required greater energy consumption, but the gap imposed meant that the Briton was then unable to recover in the final stages despite his excellent pace.
The Andretti driver in fact arrived under the checkered flag with a gap of almost three seconds from the leader, also obtaining the fastest lap of the race, almost repeated also in the last lap. On the third step of the podium goes Mitch Evans, author of a race entirely in defense, especially from the point of view of energy management: after yesterday’s zero caused by contact with his teammate, important points for the standings were fundamental for the New Zealander .
Thanks to a Jaguar that did not shine all weekend, neither with the factory team nor with the customer one, Evans had to manage the race for the podium by resisting the attacks of his rivals behind him, so much so that he then finished more than fifteen seconds behind the winner of the race.
Mitch Evans, Jaguar Racing
Photo by: Andreas Beil
Excellent fourth and fifth place for Nissan, which finally reappears in the upper areas of the standings in the race after the isolated exploits in qualifying. Important points for the Japanese brand, even if the podium faded by just eight tenths. Sacha Fenestraz and Norman Nato also took advantage of Stoffel Vandoorne’s final drop, slipping him with a double pass at the hairpin.
Sixth place for Pascal Wehrlein, with the Porsche driver who is now back at the top of the world standings right on Jake Dennis, while Nick Cassidy slips back after today’s zero. The New Zealander was the author of an anonymous weekend: in the first race on Saturday, despite having come into contact with Jean-Eric Vergne, he still managed to bring home points from a world perspective, while today an accident with Pascal Wehrlein in an attempt to overtaking forced him to return to the pits to replace the front wing, thus saying goodbye to the chances of finishing in the top ten.
Pascal Wehrlein, Porsche, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images
The other car of Antonio Felix da Costa’s official Porsche team finished in the week position, while the second Maserati was unable to go beyond eighth place, however bringing home some useful points for the constructors’ standings: now the brand del Tridente is in sixth place with a one point advantage over McLaren.
To conclude the points area Stoffel Vandoorne, despite himself protagonist of a rather marked drop in the last laps, and Sebastien Buemi. Out even before the start of the race Sette Camara and Sam Bird, with the Jaguar driver forced to park his car in the pit lane due to a technical problem.
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