2023 Cape Town ePrix

2023 Cape Town ePrix
Race 5 of 16 of the 2022–23 Formula E season
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Race details
Date 25 February 2023 (2023-02-25)
Location Cape Town Street Circuit, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
Course Street Circuit
Course length 2.921 km (1.815 mi)
Distance 32[a] laps, 93.472 km (58.081 mi)
Scheduled distance 30 laps, 87.630 km (54.451 mi)
Pole position
Driver
Nissan
Time 1:07.848
Fastest lap
Driver Jean-Éric Vergne DS
Time 1:09.740 on lap 17
Podium
First
Porsche
Second
DS
Third
Envision-Jaguar
Lap leaders

The 2023 Cape Town ePrix was a Formula E electric car race was held at the Cape Town Street Circuit in the city of Cape Town in Western Cape, South Africa on 25 February 2023. It served as the fifth round of the 2022–23 Formula E season. As of the 2024–25 season, it remains the only Formula E race held in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Background

History

Initially planned to be held in 2022, the race was canceled for unknown reasons likely related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Though not initially featured on the 2023 calendar, it was introduced after the cancellation of the Seoul ePrix.

Track

Main article: Cape Town Street Circuit

A 2.94 kilometres (1.83 mi) long street circuit was laid out in Cape Town's Waterfront district, near Signal Hill.[1] The track was believed to be "one of the fastest on the calendar".[1] In total, the track had 12 turns.

Championship standings

Pascal Wehrlein entered the fifth round of the season as the points leader in the Drivers' Championship by 18 points after Jake Dennis, who was only 6 points behind going into Hyderabad did not finish after having his rear wing clipped by René Rast.[2] TAG Heuer Porsche leads the Teams' Championship by 23 points over Avalanche Andretti.[3]

Summary

After Lucas di Grassi suffered a rear suspension failure in practice, all four Mahindra M9Electro chassis were withdrawn from the event with concerns about defective wishbones.[4][5] Sam Bird crashed in qualifying and did not start the race.[6]

Classification

(All times in SAST)

Qualifying

Qualifying took place at 11:40AM on 25 February.[7]

Group draw
Group A WEH JEV CAS HUG DAC LOT SET NAT FEN TIC MUE
Group B DEN BUE BIR RAS DIG EVA ROW VAN MOR GUE VDL

Qualifying duels

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
         
A3 Nick Cassidy
A2 Pascal Wehrlein
Sacha Fenestraz
Nick Cassidy
A4 Sacha Fenestraz
A1 Jean-Éric Vergne
Sacha Fenestraz
Maximilian Günther
B3 Mitch Evans
B2 Sébastien Buemi
Maximilian Günther
Mitch Evans
B4 Maximilian Günther
B1 René Rast

Overall classification

Pos. No. Driver Team A B QF SF F Grid
1 23 Sacha Fenestraz Nissan 1:08:994 — 1:08:467 1:08:357 1:07:848 1
2 7 Maximilian Günther Maserati — 1:09:050 1:08:740 1:08:212 1:08.270 2
3 37 Nick Cassidy Envision-Jaguar 1:09:007 — 1:08:446 1:08:465 — 3
4 9 Mitch Evans Jaguar — 1:09:025 1:08:429 1:08.568 — 4
5 25 Jean-Éric Vergne DS 1:09:139 — 1:08.520 — — 5
6 94 Pascal Wehrlein Porsche 1:09:100 — 1:08:598 — — 6
7 58 René Rast McLaren-Nissan — 1:08:844 1:08:962 — — 10[b]
8 16 Sébastien Buemi Envision-Jaguar — 1:09:040 1:11.937 — — 7
9 33 Dan Ticktum NIO 1:09:171 — — — — 8
10 10 Sam Bird Jaguar — 1:09:217 — — — —[c]
11 17 Norman Nato Nissan 1:09:263 — — — — 9
12 27 Jake Dennis Andretti-Porsche — 1:09:265 — — — 14[d]
13 13 António Félix da Costa Porsche 1:09:441 — — — — 11
14 1 Stoffel Vandoorne DS — 1:09:500 — — — 12
15 5 Jake Hughes McLaren-Nissan 1:09:493 — — — — 13
16 48 Edoardo Mortara Maserati — 1:15:775 — — — PL[e]
17 36 André Lotterer Andretti-Porsche 1:09:975 — — — — 15
18 3 Sérgio Sette Câmara NIO 1:10:083 — — — — 16
Source:[8]

Race

The race began at 16:03 on 25 February.[7]

Pos. No. Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 13 António Félix da Costa Porsche 32 42:25:403 11 25
2 25 Jean-Éric Vergne DS 32 +0.281 5 18+12
3 37 Nick Cassidy Envision-Jaguar 32 +1.808 3 15
4 58 René Rast McLaren-Nissan 32 +2.208 10 12
5 16 Sébastien Buemi Envision-Jaguar 32 +2.656 7 10
6 33 Dan Ticktum NIO 32 +3.209 8 8
7 1 Stoffel Vandoorne DS 32 +4.210 12 6
8 17 Norman Nato Nissan 32 +8.582 9 4
9 36 André Lotterer Andretti-Porsche 32 +8.755[f] 15 2
10 5 Jake Hughes McLaren-Nissan 32 +10.475 13 1
11 9 Mitch Evans Jaguar 32 +14.183 4
12 3 Sérgio Sette Câmara NIO 32 +14.914 16
13 27 Jake Dennis Andretti-Porsche 32 +38.846 14
NC 23 Sacha Fenestraz Nissan 31 Accident 1 0+31
Ret 7 Maximilian Günther Maserati 20 Accident 2
Ret 48 Edoardo Mortara Maserati 1 Accident PL3
Ret 94 Pascal Wehrlein Porsche 0 Accident 6
DNS 10 Sam Bird Jaguar 0 Did Not Start
Source:[9]

Notes:

  • ^1  – Pole position.
  • ^2  – Fastest lap.
  • ^3  – Started from the pit lane.

Standings after the race

  • Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

Impact

It was estimated by a city councillor that around R 2,000,000,000 would be brought to Cape Town from the event and those travelling to the city for the event. As well as being held in conjuction with the African Green Economy Summit, the event was on the same weekend as the 2023 Kyalami 9 Hours.[10][11]

Notes

  1. ^ 30 planned laps and 2 extra laps
  2. ^ Rast received a 3-place grid penalty for causing a collision with Jake Dennis in the Hyderabad ePrix.
  3. ^ Sam Bird qualified 10th, but withdrew before the race.
  4. ^ Dennis received a 3-place grid penalty for impeding Vandoorne.
  5. ^ Mortara failed to set a lap within the 107% time, but was permitted to race at the stewards' discretion.
  6. ^ Lotterer received a 5-second time penalty for failing to keep within 10 lengths of the safety car.

References

  1. ^ a b "Track revealed for Formula E's first Cape Town ePrix". Formula E. 4 March 2022. Archived from the original on 22 October 2022.
  2. ^ "Vergne seals remarkable win in Hyderabad". The Official Home of Formula E. 11 February 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  3. ^ "2023 Formula E Standings and Results in Motorsport". AutoSport. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  4. ^ "Mahindra Racing and ABT CUPRA withdraw from Cape Town E-Prix". Formula E. 25 February 2023.
  5. ^ "Mahindra explains suspension issues which caused Cape Town Formula E withdrawal". Motorsport.com. 25 March 2023.
  6. ^ "Bird withdraws from Cape Town E-Prix". Motorsport Week. 25 February 2023.
  7. ^ a b "2023 Cape Town E-Prix - ABB FIA Formula E World Championship". The Official Home of Formula E. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  8. ^ "Qualifying". Formula E. 26 February 2023. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  9. ^ "Results". Formula E. 25 February 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  10. ^ Isaacson, David (26 January 2023). "'Formula E grand prix is Cape Town's biggest event since 2010 World Cup'". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  11. ^ "Kyalami 9 Hour and Cape Town E Prix to thrill Mzansi this weekend". TimesLIVE. 21 February 2023.
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