Leicester Mercury

Dennis off the pace in Mexico

AVALANCHE ANDRETTI DRIVER ONLY FINISHES IN 10TH PLACE

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JAKE Dennis finished a disappoint­ing 10th in the Mexico City E-Prix as his Avalanche Andretti car struggled to match their rivals’ pace.

The 26-year-old former Bosworth Academy and Loughborou­gh College student had to settle for a point after his third and fifth positions in the opening two races of the Formula E World Championsh­ip in Saudi Arabia a fortnight ago.

Writing on his website, Dennis said: “Simply not fast today. Full credit to the team to get the strategy correct and bank us a point.

“We’ve got work to do before Rome. Time to reset!”

Dennis now lies seventh in the driver’s championsh­ip on 26 points, seventeen behind early season leader, Swiss-Italian driver Edoardo Mortara of ROKiT Venturi Racing.

Pascal Wehrlein led home Andre Lotterer in an historic one-two for the TAG Heuer Porsche Team in Mexico City, with both driver and team sealing maiden Formula E World Championsh­ip victories.

Porsche executed the perfect race, with Wehrlein fending off Mortara early on.

In the final 15 minutes, Wehrlein and Lotterer picked their moment and dispatched Jean-Eric Vergne and then Mortara for the lead.

From there, the Stuttgart manufactur­er dictated in both pace and energy management.

Come the chequered flag, Wehrlein and Lotterer had nine seconds in-hand on the rest and were able to soak in the adulations of the tens of thousands of fans packing the famous Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit.

Vergne was able to bring the DS Techeetah home third, with teammate da Costa battling to fourth after a number of skirmishes.

Mortara finished fifth to retain his lead in the drivers’ championsh­ip lead, while reigning champion Nyck de Vries (Mercedes-EQ) scrapped to sixth, a second ahead of Envision Racing’s Robin Frijns.

Sebastien Buemi (Nissan e.dams) showed a stronger turn this time out to take eighth - just ahead of teammate Maximilian Guenther and Dennis (Avalanche Andretti).

Mortara heads the drivers’ standings by five points over de Vries, with Wehrlein jumping to third with that victory.

In the team championsh­ip, ROKiT Venturi Racing leads on 68 points, two clear of Mercedes-EQ, with Avalanche Andretti in sixth place on 28 points.

The fourth and fifth rounds of the Formula E World Championsh­ip take place in Rome on April 9 and 10.

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 ?? GETTY IMAGES ?? SLUGGISH DRIVE: Jake Dennis in action during the Mexico City E-Prix and also below
GETTY IMAGES SLUGGISH DRIVE: Jake Dennis in action during the Mexico City E-Prix and also below

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