Wehrlein fascinated by the performance of the Porsche: “The car was incredible! »

43 points taken out of the 58 possible: at the end of the first two rounds of Formula E, Pascal Wehrlein can boast of having a good record. After a 2nd place in Mexico two weeks ago, the German took victory on Friday for the first race of the Diriyah E-Prix… and in what way! Starting 9th after a disappointing qualification, at the gates of the final phase, the ex-driver of F1 brilliantly moved up the hierarchy until taking the lead a few laps from the finish.

“It was incredible the car I had in my hands today, allowing me to fight from 9th to 1st place, confided an emotional Wehrlein on the podium. The race was simply incredible. I knew we had a good race car, but qualifying didn't go as planned. I knew we could make up a few positions, but I couldn't imagine we were going to win the race. So in terms of strategy, it was perfect. The car was incredible. »

Faster, more economical: Porsche (already) dominates the Gen3 

Pascal Wehrlein was not mistaken: it is also largely thanks to his Porsche 99X that he was able to fight his way to victory. Already impressive in Mexico, the car German driver once again dazzled the grid with her race performances in Diriyah. The Stuttgart power unit clearly serves as a reference, since Jake Dennis, winner of the opening round in Mexico, also moved up from 11th to 2nd place! Faster and more economical than its competitors, the Porsche did not have the slightest difficulty in getting rid of its adversaries one by one.

“We had had success in Mexico in previous years, so there was still some doubt coming here as to whether we could replicate that pace, underlined the German pilot. So everyone in the team is relieved that we showed this performance on two different types of tracks that have little in common. When I was behind the cars, I could save quite a bit of energy, and then use it for overtaking. (…) Being efficient is not just about energy, you also have to maximize speed in the turns. It's a combination of having a very efficient powertrain and good cornering speeds – the good thing is we've shown both here again. »

A Pascal Wehrlein “happy and grateful” aims for confirmation

Porsche finally took its first victory since the Mexico E-Prix in 2022 and confirms its new status as favorite for this season, after the first two rounds. “I'm just very happy and very grateful for the great car I had today, declared Pascal Wehrlein, now 2nd in the championship, one point behind leader Jake Dennis. We always wanted to achieve these results. We've had some great moments in the past, but this year we wanted to take a big step forward. » Another consistent performance on Saturday evening for the second race in Diriyah would strengthen Porsche in its role as a benchmark on the Formula E grid.

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