Portuguese professional racing driver António Félix da Costa emerged as the winner of season nine of the global Formula E World Championship race, which took place in Cape Town, this weekend.
According to a statement, the Porsche driver for the Formula E Team started in 11 place but worked his way through the top 10 and well into the top three by lap 20. He eventually won the race under pressure from French racing driver Jean-Éric Vergne, who came in second place.
Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is a single-seater motorsport championship for electric vehicles. The series was conceived in 2011 in Paris by then FIA president Jean Todt and Spanish businessman Alejandro Agag, who is also current chairman of Formula E Holdings.
Taking place on Saturday, the event saw Cape Town become the first African city to host a round of the Formula E world championship, which is a culmination of more than five years of work between local Formula E promoter E-Movement, its partners and the city.
The 22 cars raced through the Green Point and Waterfront precincts, with Signal Hill and other Cape Town landmarks as the track backdrop.
Over 20 000 people lined up in spectator areas along the track.
“I knew it was going to be a strategic one; I’ve done this race before where you have to give that lead away and really plan a late move in the race because the energy was playing a big part, and so following was a bit of an advantage,” said Da Costa,
“So, I wanted to be behind him [Vergne] for a few laps to build that energy advantage and use it, but I know leaving it late is always a risk and Vergne is a very hard guy to overtake. I thought I was gone for a moment there in T9! But it’s good to race him on a day like this.”
According to the City of Cape Town, in addition to the economic benefits for the city, this event delivered improved road infrastructure for the precinct, which will benefit residents and allow for better access for non-motorised transport.
British motor racing team EnvisionRacing’s Nick Cassidy took third position, while René Rast (NEOM McLaren Formula E Team) steered to fourth. Sébastien Buemi (Envision Racing) took the flag in fifth.
According to Jaguar Land Rover South Africa, the Jaguar TCS Racing team had poor luck, when the car of one of their drivers, Sam Bird, was damaged and wasn’t fit to make the start. Later on, the team’s other driver, Mitch Evans, received a drive-through penalty for an overpower violation, dropping him out of a strong fourth spot, early in the race.
“It’s been an incredibly frustrating day again here in Cape Town,” said James Barclay, Jaguar TCS Racing team principal.
“The Jaguar I-TYPE 6 has been strong all weekend, Mitch was holding fourth place really well and we were managing our pace for later in the race. We need to evaluate why Mitch had an overuse of power. For Sam’s side of the garage, we’re absolutely gutted. He was driving well, the car was quick and his accident could have been avoided. As a championship, we need to learn and improve. We have a great team, an incredibly quick race car and we will keep striving towards winning.”
The next round of the 2023 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship takes place in São Paulo, Brazil, for the first time, on 25 March.
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