Maserati MSG Racing’s Max Guenther wins the second race of the 2023 Gulavit Jakarta E-Prix double-header to secure the manufacturer’s first E-Prix victory in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.
Guenther produced a remarkable drive in what was also Maserati’s first world championship single-seater win since Juan-Manuel Fangio’s legendary victory at the Nurburgring all the way back in 1957.
Avalanche Andretti’s Jake Dennis took second to put the British driver just a point behind TAG Heuer Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein at the top of the Drivers’ World Championship as the title race hots up heading into the final five races of the season.
But it was Guenther’s day in the Indonesian capital, building on an exceptional weekend in which he had already been quickest in all Free Practice sessions and secured two Julius Baer Pole Positions as well as a podium in Saturday’s race. It was also the first time this season the pole setter has gone on to win the race, underlining Formula E’s reputation for competitive, wheel-to-wheel racing.
It catapults the German into seventh place in the drivers’ standings and with significant momentum heading into Formula E’s debut in Portland later this month.
“Very proud moment, I am over the moon with this victory”, he said. “Already yesterday was great with another podium. We have made such good progress over the past couple of races, it is fantastic, and to take my first win here in Jakarta is outstanding. I am just so happy.
“We felt really good from FP1 onwards, so the package is working here it was just about executing it and keep shooting in the right direction. We always took the right decisions this weekend. Yesterday we didn’t have enough, but today we did. It is just amazing.
“In Formula E you always need to keep your feet on the ground, like life in general! It can change so quickly, I am just really enjoying this moment here, I know there will be tracks that suit us more, there will be tracks that suit us less. We try to always maximise our package, that is what we have been doing the past few races. I am very proud.”
Guenther timed things just right, happy to hold fire behind Dennis once the Brit had taken the lead through the first round of ATTACK MODE activations.
The telling switch came as Guenther held off on his second jolt of ATTACK MODE when Dennis blinked first. The German was able to generate a gap enough to leapfrog the Avalanche Andretti driver by the time he made the dive for his final 50kW boost on Lap 18.
From there, the Maserati MSG Racing driver didn’t look back and, in fact, was able to stretch his legs - pulling out 2.822 seconds on Dennis come the flag and more than 18 seconds on third-placed man Mitch Evans in the Jaguar TCS Racing I-TYPE 6.
Nobody had won by more than two seconds in the GEN3 era since Dennis’ season-opening victory in Mexico City and that margin was the largest we’d seen in the last 10 rounds.
Drama struck the standings leader heading into Round 11, Nick Cassidy. The Envision Racing driver had only failed to score once this season, with 13th in Diriyah, but he made a costly slip in trying to pass his then-nearest title rival Wehrlein on Lap 20 – coming off worse for wear, shuffled to the back of the pack and 19th position with damage.
That would prove doubly costly given Dennis’ second-placed finish and Wehrlein’s drive to sixth - the German backing up his win on Saturday with another strong haul of points after a measured drive.
The Nissan pair of Sacha Fenestraz and Norman Nato made late-race strides to seal fourth and fifth from seventh and 12th on the grid, respectively. The French-Argentine’s move on reigning champion Stoffel Vandoorne (DS PENSKE) was particularly eye-catching – catching the Belgian unawares into the hairpin, with his teammate Nato able to follow.
That pass saw Vandoorne shuffled back to an eventual ninth as Wehrlein, Antonio Felix da Costa (TAG Heuer Porsche) and Edoardo Mortara (Maserati MSG Racing) able to waltz by for sixth, seventh and eighth. Envision Racing’s disappointing afternoon saw only a point head their way, with Sebastien Buemi rounding out the top 10.
All that left the standings top three split by just six points with Wehrlein on 134, Dennis 133 after that fourth consecutive podium and Cassidy on 128 after a disastrous afternoon for the Kiwi. TAG Heuer Porsche head the way in the Teams’ running with 212 points - pulling further clear of Envision Racing who sit on 190 points with Jaguar TCS Racing third on 171.
Season 9 has five races to run, with a first trip to Portland, Oregon in the United States next up in three weeks’ time on 24 June.
