Formula E

Dennis pulls off shock Valencia Formula E victory for BMW

by Matt Beer
4 min read

Formula E rookie Jake Dennis pulled off a masterful drive to take BMW to victory in the second Valencia race.

As expected, FE’s first dry race on a permanent racetrack was all about energy saving and the field settled into a long, cagey train of slipstreaming cars early on.

But contrary to expectations, leading the race throughout didn’t doom Dennis.

He managed to conserve enough useable energy, despite everyone else benefiting from his slipstream, to hold his own at the front right through to the flag.

Jake Dennis wins Valencia Formula E 2021

Dennis did have a little bit of external help, though. Mahindra driver Alex Lynn had been his main pursuer for the first two thirds of the race but then a tap from Norman Nato’s Venturi Mercedes at the tight Turn 9 on the cut-through used to shorten the circuit sent Lynn sideways and through the gravel.

Suddenly Dennis found himself 2s clear of the pack just when he was able to start raising his pace. Though the pack closed back in, Dennis managed things perfectly to allow himself a flat-out last lap and secure a shock victory.

Nato was given a 5s penalty for hitting Lynn, dropping him from second to fifth on the road.

Andre Lotterer finally got off the mark after an awful start to the season by inheriting second for Porsche, with Lynn making it back through to third once Nato’s penalty took effect.

Oliver Rowland Nissan Valencia Formula E 2021

Oliver Rowland moved up to fourth for Nissan. Rene Rast had charged into that spot from 14th on the grid but used a lot of energy to do so and fell back to sixth at the flag.

After their weather-assisted strong qualifying positions, the NIO333s couldn’t stay up front all race but Oliver Turvey did well to hang on to eighth behind Jean-Eric Vergne’s DS Techeetah. Turvey’s team-mate Tom Blomqvist tumbled to 17th.

Edoardo Mortara and Lucas di Grassi completed the scorers.

The championship frontrunners left in the midfield by the weather in qualifying couldn’t get into the points. But Mercedes’ Nyck de Vries still leads the standings despite finishing only 16th as none of his main rivals fared much better.

He followed Jaguar’s title chasers Sam Bird and Mitch Evans home.

Reigning champion Antonio Felix da Costa had to take a drivethrough penalty for improper use of the attack mode activation zone, dumping him to 22nd.

Mercedes driver Stoffel Vandoorne made some of the best progress of the championship contenders at first, but sustained broken suspension in a clash with Sebastien Buemi.

Race Results

Pos Name Team Car Laps Laps Led Total Time Fastest Lap Pitstops Pts
1 Jake Dennis BMW i Andretti Motorsport BMW iFE.21 30 30 46m32.002s 1m30.658s 0 29
2 André Lotterer TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Porsche 99X Electric 30 0 +1.483s 1m31.18s 0 18
3 Alex Lynn Mahinda Racing Mahindra M7Electro 30 0 +2.428s 1m30.263s 0 16
4 Oliver Rowland Nissan e.DAMS Nissan IM02 30 0 +2.87s 1m31.078s 0 12
5 Norman Nato RokIT Venturi Racing Mercedes-EQ Silver Arrow 02 30 0 +5.811s 1m31.067s 0 10
6 René Rast Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler Audi e-tron FE07 30 0 +8.122s 1m31.718s 0 8
7 Jean-Eric Vergne DS Techeetah DS E-Tense FE21 30 0 +8.782s 1m31.388s 0 6
8 Oliver Turvey NIO 333 Formula E Team NIO 333 001 30 0 +11.292s 1m31.378s 0 4
9 Edoardo Mortara RokIT Venturi Racing Mercedes-EQ Silver Arrow 02 30 0 +12.014s 1m31.595s 0 2
10 Lucas Di Grassi Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler Audi e-tron FE07 30 0 +12.405s 1m31.015s 0 1
11 Sébastien Buemi Nissan e.DAMS Nissan IM02 30 0 +13.295s 1m31.57s 0 0
12 Maximilian Günther BMW i Andretti Motorsport BMW iFE.21 30 0 +13.594s 1m30.5s 0 0
13 Nick Cassidy Envision Virgin Racing Audi e-tron FE07 30 0 +14.329s 1m31.139s 0 0
14 Sam Bird Jaguar Racing Jaguar I-Type 5 30 0 +15.151s 1m30.37s 0 0
15 Mitch Evans Jaguar Racing Jaguar I-Type 5 30 0 +17.213s 1m30.846s 0 0
16 Nyck de Vries Mercedes-Benz EQ Mercedes-EQ Silver Arrow 02 30 0 +18.444s 1m31.608s 0 0
17 Tom Blomqvist NIO 333 Formula E Team NIO 333 001 30 0 +18.885s 1m31.789s 0 0
18 Pascal Wehrlein TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Porsche 99X Electric 30 0 +19.274s 1m31.873s 0 0
19 Robin Frijns Envision Virgin Racing Audi e-tron FE07 30 0 +19.756s 1m31.368s 0 0
20 Nico Müller Dragon / Penske Autosport Penske EV-4 30 0 +21.069s 1m30.88s 0 0
21 Sérgio Sette Câmara Dragon / Penske Autosport Penske EV-4 30 0 +32.079s 1m32.054s 0 0
22 António Félix da Costa DS Techeetah DS E-Tense FE21 30 0 +59.698s 1m30.718s 1 0
23 Alexander Sims Mahinda Racing Mahindra M7Electro 30 0 +1m04.277s 1m30.081s 1 0
Stoffel Vandoorne Mercedes-Benz EQ Mercedes-EQ Silver Arrow 02 20 0 DNF 1m31.463s 1 0
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