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Autosport Top 50 of 2023: #9 Jake Dennis

Eleven Formula E podiums – including two victories – were the backbone to Dennis’s title-winning campaign. The Andretti driver began the new Gen3 era in style with a dominant win in Mexico City, and he was second in both Diriyah races before a barren run of nearly three months (and four races) without scoring points put his championship credentials in doubt.

The Briton bounced back in Berlin to set up a spree of eight podiums in the final nine races as he sealed the title on home soil. All the more impressively, Dennis was the only Porsche user able to go up against, and beat, the dominant Jaguar powertrain.

Dennis’s top three drives

3. Berlin E-Prix II

The significance of finishing runner-up in the second Berlin E-Prix was that it ended nearly a three-month spell where Dennis failed to score any points due to various incidents over the previous four races.

Having started seventh, Dennis avoided trouble in the early going at the Tempelhof Airport Circuit before slotting into second behind Nick Cassidy, the Kiwi emerging as his main rival come season’s end.

Remarkably, given the frenetic nature of racing with the new Gen3 car, Cassidy held the lead for the final 16 laps as Dennis decided against any rash lunges to bag vital points. Such was the importance of the podium in curtailing his run of bad form given the mounting pressure on him that Dennis said it “felt like a win”.

2. Rome E-Prix II

Dennis took just two wins all season but his consistency to bag points set up his title attack (Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images)

The second outing in Italy proved to be a pivotal moment in the title race as rivals Mitch Evans and Cassidy tripped over themselves early on. Dennis was directly ahead of the pair after taking an impressive pole, his second of the season.

He went on to put in a lights-to-flag performance and was never headed over the 24-lap distance, despite the close attention of Norman Nato and Sam Bird throughout.

The pivotal result proved to be Dennis’s final win of the season, but which enabled him to take a 24-point lead in the standings to his home races in London and put him on the cusp of the title.

1. London E-Prix I

Third on-the-road (converted to second post-race after Antonio Felix da Costa was penalised) was just enough for Dennis to seal the title with a race to spare in only his third season of Formula E.

PLUS: How a "complete reset" helped Dennis deliver Andretti's Formula E title

In typical dramatic fashion, though, the opening London race proved far from straightforward for Dennis. Twice missing the Attack Mode activation cost him valuable track position, and he had to deal with two late red flags which only further heightened the suspense.

He was also helped massively when Cassidy collided with Envision team-mate Sebastien Buemi when looking on course for victory. Dennis had gone side-by-side with his main rival several times in their high-stakes contest.

 
Dennis celebrated sealing the title with a race to spare after a chaotic London opener (Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images)
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