Formula E to debut in Indonesia with first-ever Jakarta E-Prix

JAKARTA: The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship will debut in Indonesia on June 4 when the first-ever Jakarta E-Prix takes place in Round 9 of the 16-race season.

Eleven teams and 22 drivers will compete at the Jakarta International E-Prix Circuit, in Ancol Beach, with the fight for the championship title on a knife-edge as just 16 points – comfortably less than is on offer for a single victory – split the top three drivers.

With eight rounds and five different race winners in the books, leader Stoffel Vandoorne of Mercedes-EQ, heads ROKiT Venturi Racing’s Edoardo Mortara and DS TECHEETAH’s double champion Jean-Eric Vergne.

Mercedes-EQ has stolen a march in the team championship after a dominant second win of the season for reigning champion Nyck de Vries in Berlin. Add to that a pair of podiums courtesy of teammate Vandoorne and it was some haul for the German giants on home soil on the weekend the team’s future became clear, with McLaren taking the reins of the title-winning squad from Season 9.

Vergne continued his scoring streak, now at eight races and the only driver with a 100 percent record in 2021-22. The Frenchman is desperate for that first race win of the season, but Formula E’s only double and consecutive champion is just 16 points shy of leader Vandoorne with eight rounds to come.

Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans’ strong form continued with more points in Berlin, following up on a Rome win-double and silverware in Monaco.

Robin Frijns (Envision Racing) qualified down in 20th for race one at Tempelhof which proved to be costly – the Dutchman having top-six pace at worst all weekend. Still, he is just two points back from Evans in fifth, though the pair have fallen 12 behind third in the standings.

Re