The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship debuts in Indonesia this weekend with the first-ever Jakarta E-Prix. Round 9 of the 16-race calendars will see the 11 teams and 22 drivers compete at the Jakarta International E-Prix Circuit in Ancol Beach which will welcome thousands of Indonesia’s passionate motorsport fans to the vibrant capital city for this inaugural race.
Chatting with Berlin Race E-Prix race winner Edoardo Mortara and Nyck De Vries
Edoardo Mortara won Berlin E-Prix Round 7, driving for the Rokit Venturi Racing Formula E driver. With the result, he now also sits in second positiong in the driver’s championship in the 2022 season currently. We talk to the Italo-Swiss driver about his views on Gen3.
“I’ve got no idea. So, on that level, you know, we’re equal because I’ve only seen the car, let’s say during the Gen 3 lounge and in pictures. I’ve never driven the car so far. Well, I’m not announced for next year. We’ll have to focus first on season 8 and then we’ll see.”
Nyck De Vries After his slow start of this season, Nyck de Vries has slowly climbed back up, and with his dominating win at Round 8 of the Formula E season at Berlin, he now sits at sixth position in the championship. We ask him, how well prepared he is for Jakarta.
“Well have I haven’t looked at the layout, I haven’t run the simulator yet. It should happen next week. I’m downloading videos from YouTube to get an idea. Unfortunately, at this point I have no clue. But in Formula E there are ways to overtake and I am hoping I get the opportunity to get pass someone.”
Uncharted territory
It’s unchartered territory for the Formula E field this Saturday with high humidity, searing heat and the Jakarta International E-Prix Circuit’s unique banked sections, undulations, bumps and a mix of technical and high-speed sections set to provide a real test.
The 2.37km, 18-turn circuit kicks off with a tight opening sector after a long run down the start/finish straight before a series of fast, long straights and natural high-speed corners. There will be plenty of room for manoeuvres into the right hander at Turn 1 before driver’s head into a flowing series of turns that swoop by Ancol Beach City. The final sector is a tricky complex following a fast-right hander at the cambered Turn 12 and another long straight into what will no doubt be a busy Turn 13 hairpin come the race. Another banked corner at T16 comes before a tricky left-hander at Turn 18 which rounds out the lap with a strong slingshot down the long home straight.
The unique circuit has been constructed in arguably the fastest in Formula E history and will leave a new platform for motorsport in Jakarta to grow.
Championship battle heats up
The fight for the World Championship title is on a knife-edge as just 16 points – comfortably less than is on offer for a single victory – split the top three drivers as the second half of the biggest-ever 16-race campaign gets underway in Jakarta.
With eight rounds and five different race winners in the books, standings leader Stoffel Vandoorne of Mercedes-EQ, heads ROKiT Venturi Racing’s Edoardo Mortara and DS TECHEETAH’s double champion Jean-Éric Vergne.
Mercedes-EQ has stolen a march in the Teams’ running after a dominant second win of the season for reigning champion Nyck de Vries in Berlin. Add to that a pair of podiums courtesy of teammate Vandoorne and it was some haul for the German giants on home soil on the weekend the team’s future became clear, with McLaren taking the reins of the title-winning squad from Season 9.
Jean-Éric Vergne continued his scoring streak, now at eight races and the only driver with a 100% record in 2021/22. The Frenchman is desperate for that first race win of the season but Formula E’s only double and consecutive champion is just 16 points shy of leader Vandoorne with eight rounds to come.
Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans’ strong form continued with more solid points in Berlin, following up on a Rome win-double and silverware in Monaco. Robin Frijns
(Envision Racing) qualified down in 20th for race one at Tempelhof which proved
to be costly – the Dutchman having top six pace at worst all weekend. Still, he’s
just two points back from Evans in fifth, though the pair have fallen 12 behind
third in the standings.
Reigning World Champion de Vries pulled a dominant drive out of the bag on home soil
for Mercedes-EQ in Round 8 to bite back from a run of two points from four races in the best way possible.
Formula E in Asia
Formula E has been a regular in Asia since the championship’s outset in 2014/15, with 16 races at five locations so far in the region. The very first Formula E E-Prix was held in Beijing while the 50th race was in Hong Kong, with Sanya (China), Putrajaya (Malaysia) and Diriyah (Saudi Arabia) all hosting races. This season will climax in Asia with a double-header of races in Seoul, Korea, another debut city for the championship.
Jakarta is home to over 11 million inhabitants and is the capital city of Indonesia, the largest economy in Southeast Asia and fourth most populous nation in the world with over 270 million people. The Asia Pacific powerhouse has a huge motorsport fanbase with Formula E races airing live nationally on free-to-air and digital channels.